C- 


Lr 


Boer  and  Britisher 

IN    SOUTH   AFRICA 


A   HISTORY    OF   THE    BOER-BRITISH   WAR   AND 

THE  WARS  FOR  UNITED  SOUTH  AFRICA 

TOGETHER    WITH    BIOGRAPHIES 

OF   THE   GREAT   MEN   WHO 

MADE  THE  HISTORY  OF 

SOUTH  AFRICA 


BY 


JOHN   ORMOND   NEVILLE 

Historian^    War  Correspondent  and  Military  Expert 


ILLUSTRATED 

WITH   AN   ABUNDANCE  OF  ORIGINAL    PHOTOGRAPHS  AND  MAPS 


Copyright,  1900,  by  R.  W.  Walton 


THOMPSON  &  THOMAS, 

267  Wabash  Ave., 

CHICAGO. 


stack 
Annex 

OT 
A/51 

INTRODUCTION. 

^W     N  THIS  book   I  have  endeavored  to  give,  in  a 
^Jll\      concise  and   popular  form,  a  clear,  interesting, 
:r^!«^-.     and  valuable  account  of  the  historical,  political 
^  and  social  developments  of    South  Africa,   as 

they  have  presented  themselves  to  the  world,  from  the 
beginning  of  the  differences  between  the  Boer  and  the 
Britisher;  and  further,  I  have  been  guided  by  the  firm 
resolve  to  make  all  deductions  from  absolute  facts, 
thereby  assuring  a  truthful  portrayal  of  the  current 
events,  and  an  unbiased  and  unprejudiced  statement  of 
all  the  important  occurrences  from  the  settlement  of  the 
Dutch  at  the  Cape  down  to  the  present  day. 

The  people  of  South  Africa  are  often  judged  wrongly, 
especially  in  England,  where  every  one  cannot  rise  to  the 
unprejudiced  point  of  view  of  the  great  Gladstone,  who 
could  appreciate  the  worth  of  these  people,  who,  to  pre- 
serve their  freedom,  left  their  former  homes  in  Cape 
Colony  and  strove  for  an  independent  existence  in  the 
desolate,  wild  country  inhabited  only  by  hostile  savages. 

In  the  beginning  of  their  struggle  for  freedom  the 
inhabitants  of  both  the  South  African  Republics,  almost 
without  exception,  belonged  to  different  Protestant  com- 
munities. Though  not,  of  course,  without  faults  and 
prejudices — as  is  always  the  case  with  people  who  liv6  in 
seclusion — they  were  generally  men  of  severe  morality, 
distinguished  for  the  simplicity  of  their  customs  and  the 
purity  of  their  family  life.     The  rule,  accepted  by  custom, 

III 


IV 


INTRODUCTION. 


that  only  members  of  the  Reform  Church  had  a  right  to 
vote,  in  reahty  had  no  other  purpose  than  to  exclude 
those  who  remained  below  the  general  level  of  develop- 
ment. 

This  state  of  things,  however,  had  to  be  altered  on 
the  arrival  of  numerous  strangers  within  the  territory  of 
the  South  African  Republics.  This  the  government  did 
of  its  own  free  will.  Extension  of  the  franchise  was 
granted  without  reserve  in  the  constitution  of  1889.  So 
it  was  thought  best,  after  the  invasion  of  Jameson  at  the 
end  of  1895,  to  give  full  political  rights  to  all  strangers 
who  had  helped  to  beat  off  that  sudden  attack. 

Strangers  from  all  parts  of  the  world  have  settled 
within  the  Witwatersrand  in  Johannesburg,  the  gold  city 
of  not  quite  twenty  years'  existence.  The  population 
there  is  a  mixture  of  all  nations,  with  different  religions. 
As  will  happen  in  every  new  gold  city,  a  considerable 
part  of  that  population  is  of  a  very  low  standard.  It  is 
clear  that  under  such  conditions  crimes  will  occur,  but 
the  government  generally  has  preserved  order  with 
strength.  Compared  to  San  Francisco  of  earlier  days, 
where  public  safety  was  continually  threatened  by  the 
most  shameful  intrigues  and  corruptions  until  a  change 
came  through  a  revolution  with  the  horrible  employment 
of  lynch  law,  the  maintenance  of  order  in  Johannesburg 
is  admirable.  Though  every  one  there  is  humane  toward 
the  colored  race,  it  is  considered  wrong  to  put  that  race 
on  an  equality  with  the  others;  but  all  of  the  white  people 
in  the  South  African  Republic  are  in  the  full  possession 
of  their  rights,  both  in  the  exercise  of  their  religion  and 
in  the  application  of  civil  law. 

According  to  the  present  constitution,  an'd  even  in 
virtue  of  that  of   1858,  all  who  settfe  in  the  territory  of 


INTRODUCTION.  v 

the  republic  are  entitled  to  full  protection  of  their  person 
and  property.  The  strangers,  however,  the  Outlanders 
— a  drifting  population,  of  which  the  majority  live  only 
temporarily  in  the  republic — demand  full  political  rights, 
to  take  part  in  the  election  for  the  Volksraad  and  to  be 
elected  as  members  of  that  council.  In  no  country  in 
the  world  are  such  political  rights  given  to  strangers  with- 
out at  least  some  delay. 

The  majority  of  countries,  indeed,  give  strangers  the 
opportunity  to  acquire  the  full  political  rights  after  long 
residence  in  the  country  and  after  they  have  shown  their 
intention  to  stay  there  in  future.  The  law  of  several 
governments  allows  this.  But  as  public  order  and  safety 
greatly  depend  upon  it,  every  government  should,  of 
course,  be  free  to  judge  how  to  deal  with  this  question. 

A  great  number  of  Outlanders  of  different  nationalities 
have  acquired  full  political  rights  during  the  past  few 
years. 

Moderate  critics — and  among  them  many  English 
ones,  too — have  acknowledged  that  in  less  than  twenty 
years  the  Boers  have  introduced  more  liberal  measures 
than  Europe,  and  especially  England,  did  in  centuries. 
A  cause  for  war,  however,  was  found  in  the  convenience  of 
these  alleged  grievances  under  the  pretext  of  this  effort  of 
the  Outlander  to  gain  full  political  rights. 

It  is  a  war  promoted  by  England  without  necessity, 
for  the  grievances  of  the  Outlander  did  not  at  any  time 
overbalance  the  conditions  which  necessitated  the  precau- 
tion taken  by  the  Boers.  Many  of  the  Outlanders  have 
made  large  fortunes  at  Johannesburg  and  might  have 
increased  their  wealth  in  the  future  had  not  unscrupulous 
capitalists  excited  disturbances  and  stirred  up  the  people 
to  revolt.     To  be  candid,  and  to  sum  up  the  whole  situa- 


VI  INTRODUCTION. 

tion  in  a  few  words,  the  real  castis  belli  in  the  Boer- 
British  conflict  is  GOLD,  and  it  is  a  war  not  of  the 
British  nation  but  of  British  oflficiahsm  backed  by  the 
men  who  control  the  wealth  of  the  British  Empire.  The 
mines  of  the  Witwatersrand  are  among  the  richest  in  the 
world.  They  are  owned  by  Englishmen,  and  are  in  the 
Transvaal  territory.  The  men  who  own  and  operate 
them,  incited  by  Great  Britain's  Empire-Builder,  Cecil 
Rhodes,  brought  about  the  controversy  which  has  ended 
in  war. 

No  one  can  be  indifferent  to  the  heroism  of  that  small 
but  energetic  people,  who,  loyal  and  faithful  to  each 
other,  show  by  their  acts  that  they  prefer  freedom  to  life 
itself,  by  undertaking  a  war  with  so  mighty  a  power, 
while  praying  to  the  Almighty,  and  trusting  in  the  right- 
eousness of  their  cause,  to  bring  relief. 

The  spirit  of  liberty  and  independence  seems  to  be 
inherent  in  all  peoples  who  live  in  a  mountainous  country 
and  whose  existence  is  largely  dependent  upon  out-of- 
door  occupations.  Of  such  are  the  Boers.  By  force  of 
arms  they  gained  their  independence,  and  it  is  for  that 
independence  they  are  struggling  against  the  greatest  of 
all  imperialistic  governments. 

In  many  respects  the  struggle  is  similar  to  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution.  Like  the  American  colonists  the  Boers 
are  a  sturdy,  honest,  God-fearing  people,  skilled  in  the 
use  of  the  rifle  and  possessing  the  physical  courage  of 
Spartans,  and  their  patriotic  feeling  is  strikingly  exempli- 
fied by  the  famous  words  of  Patrick  Henry  when  he 
exclaimed,   "  Give  me  liberty  or  give  me  death." 

For  England  to  interfere  in  the  internal  aflfairs  of 
the  South  African  Republic  was  contrary  to  the  conven- 
tion of  1884.     Unjust  as  that  interference  was,  however, 


INTRODUCTION.  vii 

the  South  African  Republic  yielded,  offering  to  do  all  that 
was  possible  to  avoid  a  war.  Not  contented  with  these 
concessions  England  claimed  more ;  the  South  African 
Republic  was  asked  to  give  up  what  had  been  granted  in 
the  Convention  of  1884  and  accept  again  the  treaty  of 
1 88 1,  by  which  suzerainty  was  imposed.  In  this  manner 
the  negotiations  commenced  bona  fide  by  the  Boers  were 
prolonged  by  Great  Britain  and  the  concentration  of  an 
English  military  force  on  the  Transvaal  frontier  was  at 
the  same  time  in  progress.  After  the  intentions  of  Great 
Britain  had  become  clear  the  South  African  government 
had  the  prudence  and  courage  to  send  an  ultimatum  to 
stop  the  further  massing  of  troops  on  the  Boer  frontier, 
in  default  of  which  hostilities  should  commence  on 
October  11. 

That  courageous  resolution  and  the  brave  beginning  of 
the  war  have  thrilled  with  admiration  the  whole  world 
like  by  an  electric  shock.  Such  an  example,  given  by 
these  noble  people  in  defending  their  independence  at  the 
cost  of  their  lives,  must  conduce  to  the  welfare  of  man- 
kind in  this  age,  when  everywhere  moral  strength  is 
weakened  by  an  unbridled  desire  for  wealth. 

He,  in  whose  hand  lies  the  fate  of  nations  and  the 
end  of  war,  knows  if  the  world  of  the  Twentieth  Century 
will  be  benefited  by  the  heroic  death  of  these  men  who 
sacrifice  themselves  for  liberty. 

To  the  many  South  Africans  with  whom  I  have  asso- 
ciated, and  who  have  favored  me  in  so  many  ways,  I  am 
sincerely  grateful.  Afrikanders  and  Outlanders,  English- 
men, Dutchmen  and  Boers  alike  ;  and  especially  the 
many  high  officials,  who  have  furnished  me  with  unre- 
strained views  and  reviews. 

The  Author. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Introduction  .         ,         .         .         .         .         .         .         .       v 

CHAPTER  I. 

CAUSES    OF    THE    BOER-BRITISH    WAR. 

Friction  between  the  Dutch  and  the  English  in  Cape 
Colony — The  Great  Trek — Questions  of  Franchise  and 
Suzerainty         .         .  .         .         .         .         .         .21 

CHAPTER  II. 

BLOEMFONTEIN    CONFERENCE. 

Demands  of  Great  Britain  and  Concessions  of  the  Transvaal 
— Kruger  Outwits  Milner  and  Chamberlain — War  the 
Result 36 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE    GREAT    DARK    CONTINENT. 

How  Africa  is  Divided  among  the  Nations,  with  Facts  Con- 
cerning the  People  Who  Inhabit  It — Recent  Develop- 
ments       .         .         .         .         .  .         .         .         -51 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    BOERS    AND    THEIR    COUNTRY. 

A  Much  Misrepresented  People  Who  are  Hospitable  and 
Intensely  Religious — Life  in  the  Transvaal  and  Orange 
Free  State 62 

IX 


X  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

FAGB 

CHAPTER    V. 

MAJUBA    HILL    AND    THE   JAMESON    RAID. 

Great  Britain's  Last  Two  Attempts  to  Annex  the  Transvaal 
Republic  Result  in  Disastrous  Defeat — Death  of  Sir 
George  CoUey 84 

« 
CHAPTER  VI. 

TWO    GREAT    BOER    GENERALS. 

Piet    Joubert    and    Commandant    Cronje,  the   Two   Great 
Military  Leaders    of  the  Transvaal   Army — Their  Vic-     • 
tories  over  the  British       .......     97 


CHAPTER  Vn. 

CECIL    JOHN    RHODES. 

Remarkable  African  Career  of  England's  Empire  Builder — 
Description  of  the  Famous  Diamond  Mines  at  Kimberley 
— A  Character  Sketch     . 107 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

PRESIDENT     KRUGER. 

Biographical  Description  of  "Oom  Paul,"  the  Head  of  the 
South  African  Republic — A  Warrior  and  a  Statesman — 
His  Home  Life        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .119 


CHAPTER  IX. 

SAVAGE    WARS   IN    SOUTH    AFRICA. 

Dingaan,  the  Great  Zulu,  Defeated  by  the  Trekkers — The 
Cittivvayo  and  Lobengula  Rebellions — How  the  Black 
Warrior  Fights         ........    130 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  xi 

PAOE 

CHAPTER   X. 

FIRST    SHOT    IN    THE    WAR    OF    '99. 

Kraaipan  Siding,  the  Scene  of  the  First  Engagement — Boers 
Capture  an  Armored  Train — The  Battle  of  Glencoe — 
Loss  of  the  1 8th  Hussars 139 


CHAPTER  XI. 

BATTLES    OF    ELANDSLAAGTE    AND    REITFONTEIN, 

Severe  Fighting  to  Cover  the  Retreat  of  the  Dundee  Gar- 
rison to  Ladysmith — Gallant  Charges  Result  in  Heavy 
British  Losses  .         ,         .  .  .         .147 


CHAPTER  XII. 

SIEGES    OF    MAFEKING    AND    KIMBERLEY. 

Isolation  of  British    Garrisons  under  Colonels  Baden-Powell 

and  Kekewich — Numerous  Unsuccessful  Sorties    .         .155 


CHAPTER  XIH. 

SIEGE    OF    LADYSMITH. 

Sir  George  Stewart  White  and  a  British  Garrison  of  Twelve 
Thousand  Penned  Up — Fierce  Battles  and  Capture  of 
British  Troops  .         .         .         .         .         .         .        .   167 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

BULLER    TAKES    COMMAND    OF    BRITISH    FORCES. 

His  Plan  of  Campaign — Sending  Relief  Columns  to  Kim- 
berley  and  Ladysmith — Sketch  of  His  Career — Estimate 
of  Boer  Forces 178 


XII  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS, 

FAOB 

CHAPTER  XV. 

methuen's  kimberley  relief  column. 

The  Battles  of  Belmont,  Gras  Pan  or  Enslin,  and  the  Stun- 
ning Reverses  at  Modder  River —  Bloody  Engagements 
and  Severe  Losses  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .187 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE    BATTLE    OF    STORMBERG. 

Second  Division  of  General  Buller's  Army  Corps  under  Gen- 
eral Gatacre  Meets  with  a  Surprise  and  is  Forced  to 
Retreat     ..........   198 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

METHUEN    WHIPPED    AT    MAGERSFONTEIN. 

After  Receiving  Reinforcement  at  Modder  River,  again 
Attempts  Forward  Movement  to  Relieve  Kimberley 
and  is  Repulsed        . 207 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE    BLOODY    BATTLE    OF    TUGELA    RIVER. 

Main  Column  for  the  Relief  of  Ladysmith  Encounters  Boer 
Forces  at  Colenso — Buller's  Advance  Checked  with 
Terrible  Loss 216 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

ROBERTS    AND    KITCHENER    TO    THE    FRONT. 

England's  Rude  Awakening— British  Empire  at  Stake— Call 
for  50,000  Additional  Troops 225 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  xni 

PAOB 

CHAPTER  XX. 

joubert's  appeal  to  queen  victoria. 

An  Earnest  Representation  and  Historical  Reminder  from 
the  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Boers  to  the  British 
Ruler 234 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

the  delagoa  bay  question. 

The  Gateway  to  the  Transvaal — Its  Stategic  Importance — 

Description  of  the  Beautiful  Bay  and  Its  Fine  Port         .   268 


»  CHAPTER  XXII. 

SHORT    stories    OF    THE    WAR. 

Interesting  Facts  about  South  Africa  with  Relation  to  the 
Boer-British  Contest — Tales  of  Battle-fields  and  Per- 
sonal Heroism    • 283 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

patriotism  versus  ambition. 

Rev.  Dr.  Meiring,  President  Kruger's  Pastor,  Takes  up  the 
Rifle  in  Defense  of  his  Country — The  Ambition  of  Cecil 
Rhodes  a  Contrast — From  Pulpit  to  Battle-field       .         .311 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 
xftE  retreat  of  an  army. 

How  General  Buller  Retired  to  Chieveley  Camp  after  the 

Battle  of  Colenso — Dusty  March  during  an  Eclipse  .   320 


t 


w 


XIV  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

WITH    GENERAL    FRENCH'S    COLUMN.  ' 

British  Gain  a  Tentative  Victory  at  Colesburg  and  are  After- 
ward Defeated — Christmas  in  Mafeking  and  Ladysmith.   330 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

TRIPLE    BOER    ATTACK    ON    LADYSMITH. 

% 

Republican  Army  Fails  to  Compel  Surrender  of  the  Garri- 
son, but  Fights  a  Fierce  Battle  with  Heavy  Loss  to  the 
British — A  Hand  to  Hand  Encounter       ....   340 

CHAPTER  XXVn. 

WINSTON    CHURCHILL'S    ESCAPE. 

Thrilling  Story  of  a  Newspaper  Correspondent  Who  was 
Taken  Prisoner  and  Gained  His  Liberty  by  Flight — 
English  Prisoner's  Life  in  Pretoria  .-         .         .         .  349 


CHAPTER  XXVin. 

BATTLE    OF   SPION    KOP. 

General  Warren's  Division  Makes  a  Gallant  Charge  and  Cap- 
,  tures  the  Hill,  but  is  Driven  Out  by  Boer  Artillery — 
BuUer  is  Forced  to  Retreat  across  the  Tugela  .         .   360 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

SAD    PICTURES    AFTER    THE'  BATTLE    OF    MAGERSFONTEIN. 

Burial  of  General  Wauchope,  the  Leader  of  the  Famous 
Black  Watch — Some  Thrilling  Incidents  of  the  Fight  in 
which  he  Fell    .         .         .  .         .         .         .         .  375 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  xv 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

KIMBERLEY    AND    LADYSMITH    RELIEVED. 

General  French  Leads  Victorious  British  into  Former,  and 
Lord  Dundonald  into  Latter — Lord  Roberts  in  Personal 
Command  .........  389 

CHAPTER  XXXL 

SURRENDER  OF  GENERAL  CRONJE. 

After  Eight  Days  Heroic  Fighting  the  Boer  General  is 
Forced  to  Capitulate — Three,  Thousand  Boers  Hold 
Forty  Thousand  British  Troops  at  Bay    .         .         .         -407 

CHAPTER  XXXn. 

ON    TO    BLOEMFONTEIN, 

Roberts'  Army  begins  March  toward  the  Free  State  Capital 

but  Meets  with  Stubborn  Opposition — Battles  of  Poplar         ^ 
Grove  and  Brief ontein      .         .         .         .         .         .         .423 

CHAPTER  XXXHL 

SURRENDER    OF    BLOEMFONTEIN. 

Boers  Make  no  Defense  of  their  Capital  but  Retreat  to 
Kroonstad — Raising  the  English  Flag  over  the  Presi- 
dency Building 439 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

DEATH    OF    JOUBERT. 

Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Transvaal  Army  dies  at  Pretoria 
of  Stomach  Trouble — Colonel  Broadwood's  Command 
Ambushed  and  Captured  by  General  De  Wet  .         .         .450 


PRESIDENT   KKUGER   WITH  COPY   OF  ULTIMATUM. 


CECIL  JOHN  RHODES. 


THE  BOER-BRITISH  WAR. 


CHAPTER  I. 
CAUSES  OF  THE  BOER-BRITISH  WAR. 

Friction  between  the  Dutch  and  English  in  Cape  Colony — The  Great 
Trek — Questions  of  Franchise  and  Suzerainty. 

F  YOU  were  to  ask  a  Boer  to  give  two  reasons 
^^  why  Great  Britain  went  to  war  with  the  South 
African  RepubHc  (commonly  known  as  the 
Transvaal),  he  would  answer  : 

First — Diamonds. 

Second — Gold. 

If  you  asked  for  a  thirds  reason  he  would  reply: 
"  Cecil  Rhodes." 

If  you  were  to  ask  him  to  give  two  reasons  why  the 
Transvaal  went  to  war  with  Great  Britain  and  pre- 
cipitated hostilities  by  issuing  an  ultimatum,  he  would 
answer  that  there  was  but  one  reason,  and  that  was  "to 
preserve  the  independence  of  the  Transvaal  Republic. " 

The  average  Britisher,  if  asked  to  give  the  causes  of 
the  war  of  1899,  would  say  that  the  ultimatum  of  the 
Transvaal  Republic  gave  Great  Britain  no  choice  in  the 
matter,  but  aside  from  this  he  would  assert  that  his 
country  was  inspired  only  by  a  determination  to  secure 
justice  for  British  and  other  non-Boer  inhabitants  of  the 
Transvaal. 

a  91 


2  2  CAUSES  OF  THE  BOER-BRITISH  WAR. 

And  the  answers  of  both  Boer  and  Britisher  would 
not  be  far  from  right. 

While  the  trouble  between  the  Boers  and  the  British 
in  South  Africa  antedates  the  discovery  of  precious  stones 
and  metal  in  that  country,  it  is  nevertheless  a  fact  that 
the  diamond  mines  at  Kimberley  and  the  gold  fields  at 
Johannesburg  have  added  to  the  aggressiveness  and 
cupidity  of  English  diplomacy  in  the  Dark  Continent, 
and  have  likewise  influenced  the  Boers  in  a  stubborn 
and  oftentimes  exasperating  resistance  to  the  demands  of 
non-Boer  residents,  or  as  they  are  designated,  Uitlanders 
(outlanders — foreigners). 

It  is  necessary  to  a  complete  understanding  of  the 
differences  which  culminated  in  the  Boer-British  War  to 
consider  the  antecedent  facts  relating  to  the  rise  and 
growth  of  the  Boer  Republic.  The  salient  features  of 
this  history  are  few  and  clearly  marked.  They  are  only 
considered  in  outline  in  thi^  chapter,  but  in  detail  later  on. 

In  the  scramble  of  European  nations  for  South  Africa 
the  Dutch  were  the  first  to  effectively  occupy  the  field. 
They  went  there  in  1652  under  the  auspices  of  the  Dutch 
East  India  Company  and  made  their  first  settlement  on 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  They  were  followed  in  1688 
by  Huguenot  refugees  in  search  of  religious  freedom, 
denied  them  in  France  by  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of 
Nantes.  The  first  English  settlers  arrived  toward  the 
close  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,  and  this  arrival  marks 
the  beginning  of  trouble  in  Cape  Colony.  It  was  not 
until  1 8 14,  however,  that  Great  Britain  displayed  a  deter- 
mination to  maintain  its  hold  upon  the  Cape  and  to 
govern  a  colony,  the  white  inhabitants  of  which  were 
chiefly  Dutch.  In  that  year  Holland  formally  ceded  the 
territory  to  Great  Britain. 


CAUSES  OF  THE  BOER-BRITISH   WAR.  23 

The  new  administration  was  little  to  the  liking  of  the 
descendants  of  the  original  settlers.  Under  Holland  they 
had  enjoyed  a  measure  of  self-government.  Under  Great 
Britain  they  felt  themselves  aliens. 

In  181 5  they  rebelled  but  were  subdued,  and  harsh 
measures  of  repression  were  inaugurated.  This  induced 
some  of  the  bolder  ones  to  abandon  their  homes  and 
strike  into  the  interior.  The  gradual  migration  thus 
begun  culminated  in  the  great  Boer  "trek "of  1835-38, 
when  about  10,000  farmers  left  the  Colony.  ("Trek"  is 
Dutch  for  track,  or  rather  for  the  verb  which  survives  in 
our  vernacular  speech  as  "to  make  tracks.")  They 
moved  inland  and  farther  north.  They  built  kraals  in 
various  places  and  occupied  them  until  English  encroach- 
ment made  it  necessary  to  fight  or  trek.  Sometimes  they 
fought;  sometimes  they  trekked. 

The  chief  immediate  causes  for  the  great  trek  were 
two:  First,  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  in  1834,  and, 
second,  the  withdrawal  of  British  protection  against  the 
raids  of  the  native  Kaffirs. 

The  first  settlement  of  the  trekkers  was  in  the  land 
now  known  as  the  Orange  Free  State,  the  second  in 
Natal,  the  northern  boundary  of  the  colonies  being  the 
Vaal  River.  They  were  still  claimed  as  British  subjects. 
An  unsuccessful  combat  with  a  British  force  was  followed 
by  the  conversion  of  Natal  into  a  British  colony  in  1843. 

Most  of  the  Natal  Boers  again  left  their  farms,  return- 
ing to  the  Orange  River  territory.  The  bolder  spirits 
who  had  planted  themselves  north  of  the  river  Vaal  were 
once  more  called  upon  to  resist  British  control,  which 
sought  to  estabhsh  a  protectorate,  in  1845;  they  took  up 
arms  against  the  proposal  to  force  magistrates  upon  them, 
and  after  the  subjugation  of  the  Orange  River  territory  in 


24  CAUSES  OF  THE  BOER-BRITISH  WAR. 

1848,  were  joined  by  a  number  of  Boers  who,  under 
Pretorius,  refused  to  submit  to  British  rule.  They 
trekked  across  the  Vaal  River  and  founded  a  new  repub- 
hc — the  Transvaal. 

The  wise  statesmanship  of  Earl  Grey,  England's 
prime  minister,  infused  a  spirit  of  reason  and  moderation 
into  Great  Britain's  colonial  policy,  which  took  form  in 
the  recognition  of  the  independence  of  the  two  Boer 
republics.  The  first  formal  charter  of  the  independence 
of  the  Transvaal  Republic  was  a  treaty  signed  at  Sand 
River  in  January,  1852,  the  opening  sentence  of  which 
marks  Great  Britain's  recognition  of  the  separate  sover- 
eignty of  the  Transvaal  people  over  their  country.  It  is 
as  follows: 

"The  Assistant  Commissioners  guarantee  in  the  full- 
est manner,  on  the  part  of  the  British  government,  to 
the  emigrant  farmers  beyond  the  Vaal  River,  the  right 
to  manage  their  own  affairs  and  to  govern  themselves 
according  to  their  own  laws  without  any  interference  on 
the  part  of  the  British  government. " 

The  Boer  settlers  numbered  only  about  16,000,*  a 
small  population  for  so  large  a  territory.  They  occupied 
the  choice  spots  with  small  pastoral  communities.  The 
temper  of  the  people  and  their  economic  conditions  at 
first  made  central  government  unnecessary  and  impos- 
sible. A  sort  of  patriarchal  system  prevailed  for  a  long 
time,  which  was  succeeded  by  four  loosely  formed 
republics,  reaching  a  formal  union  in  i860.  These  rude, 
primitive  people  of  a  purely  agricultural  type,  each  family 
living  a  self-sufficing  life,  with  scarcely  any  commerce 
that  could  not  be  conducted  by  neighborly  barter,  had 
fastened  themselves  firmly  on  the  soil,  protecting  them- 
selves against  the  aggressions  of  native  tribes,  sometimes 


CAUSES  OF  THE  BOER-BRITISH  WAR.  25 

encroaching  beyond  their  assigned  Hmits,  but  on  the 
whole  peaceably  safeguarding  the  independence  they  had 
won. 

Without  the  aid  of  British  arms,  it  is  more  than  doubt- 
ful whether  the  white  settlements  could  have  maintained 
themselves  against  the  Zulus  on  their  east,  the  Matabeles 
on  their  west,  and  the  Kaffirs  in  their  very  midst.  But 
they  paid  the  usual  price  for  British  protection — which 
was  annexation. 

The  discovery  of  diamonds  in  1867  had  centered 
British  interest  in  the  diamond  fields,  and  in  1871  the 
diamond  fields  were  annexed  by  the  British  government. 
This  has  been  characterized  by  Mr.  Froude  as  "per- 
haps the  most  discreditable  incident  in  British  colonial 
history. " 

Forced  into  arbitration  for  the  maintenance  of  a  por- 
tion of  their  territory,  the  Boers  bitterly  resented  the  loss 
of  a  considerable  tract  of  country  for  which  they  had  shed 
their  blood,  and  which  had  been  in  their  occupation  ever 
since  the  great  ' '  trek. "  The  result,  moreover,  of  this 
transaction  was  to  place  upon  their  confines  a  body  of 
miners  and  industrial  entrepreneurs  drawn  from  all  quar- 
ters of  the  world,  destined  to  be  their  inveterate  enemies 
and  the  fbmenters  of  internal  dissensions  in  their  state. 
The  native  tribes,  obtaining  large  quantities  of  guns  and 
ammunition  from  the  mine-owners,  were  in  a  continual 
ferment  of  border  warfare  which  strained  to  the  breaking- 
point  the  loose  and  newly  made  government  of  the 
Transvaal. 

The  weakness  of  the  Transvaal  under  this  great  stress, 
the  difficulty  of  finding  men  and  money  for  her  emer- 
gency, gave  the  opportunity  which  the  advocates  of  a 
forward   policy   at   the    Cape   had   been    long   awaiting. 


26  CAUSES  OF  THE  BOER-BRITISH   WAR. 

Alleging  that  the  country  was  in  danger  of  being  overrun 
by  the  Zulus,  and  claiming  that  the  villagers  were  favor- 
able to  British  protection,  the  British  commissioner,  Sir 
Theophilus  Shepstone,  issued  a  decree  in  April,  1877, 
declaring  the  country  to  be  a  British  possession  and 
assuming  supreme  control.  The  Transvaal  government 
made  no  forcible  resistance,  but  lost  no  time  in  organiz- 
ing an  appeal  to  the  British  government.  Sir  Theophilus 
Shepstone  and  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  however,  had  sent  home 
dispatches  stating  that  the  majority  of  the  Boers  approved 
the  annexation,  and  though  Kruger  and  Joubert  pro- 
ceeded to  England  with  memorials  of  protest,  represent- 
ing virtually  the  whole  rural  population,  their  efforts  were 
unavailing.  Even  Mr.  Gladstone,  while  recognizing  the 
impolicy  and  injustice  of  the  annexation,  refused  to  relin- 
quish sovereignty  over  the  Transvaal  on  his  accession  to 
power  in  1 880. 

The  Boers  determined  to  regain  their  freedom  and 
the  war  of,  1880-81  followed.  S.  J.  P.  Kruger,  M.  W. 
Pretorius  and  Pieter  J.  Joubert  were  elected  a  triumvirate 
to  conduct  the  government.  On  December  16,  1880,  a 
national  holiday  known  as  Dingaan's  Day,  the  triumvirate 
sent  a  manifesto  to  Sir  Owen  Lanyon,  who  had  succeeded 
Shepstone  as  administrator.  The  concluding  sentence 
of  that  manifesto  remains  the  motto  of  each  Transvaal 
Boer: 

"  We  declare  before  God,  who  knows  the  heart,  and 
before  the  world,  that  the  people  of  the  South  African 
Republic  have  never  been  subjects  of  Her  Majesty  and 
never  will  be. " 

The  war,  the  details  of  which  we  will  treat  of  later, 
culminated  in  the  famous  battle  of  Majuba  Hill,  in  which 
150  Boers  defeated  600  British  troops. 


CAUSES  OF  THE  BOER-BRITISH   WAR.  27 

When  Sir  Evelyn  Wood  at  the  head  of  12,000  troops 
was  preparing  to  bear  down  by  sheer  dint  of  numbers  the 
indomitable  spirit  of  the  Boers,  Mr.  Gladstone  performed 
an  act  which  was  denounced  by  British  imperialists  but 
which  the  Grand  Old  Man's  defenders  claim  will  rank 
among  the  wisest  and  most  profitable  examples  of  his 
statecraft. 

By  a  convention  signed  at  Pretoria  in  1881  Mr.  Glad- 
stone's government  restored  independence  to  the  Trans- 
vaal, now  known  officially  as  the  South  African  Republic. 
Independence  was  subject,  however,  to  the  suzerainty  of 
Great  Britain. 

There  was  no  mistaking  the  meaning  of  the  word 
suzerainty  as  defined  in  this  convention.  It  was 
expressly  stipulated  that  the  English  crown  should  ap- 
point a  British  Resident,  with  a  veto  power  over  the 
internal  policy  of  the  republic  toward  the  Kaffirs;  that  it 
should  control  and  conduct  its  entire  foreign  policy  and 
reserve  the  right  of  moving  troops  over  its  territory  in 
time  of  war. 

This  claim  of  suzerainty  was,  in  fact,  only  a  sop 
thrown  to  the  British  public.  It  is  not  likely  that 
Gladstone,  or  Lord  Derby,  his  Foreign  Minister,  con- 
templated any  strict  enforcement  of  its  provisions,  or, 
indeed,  any  serious  necessity  for  its  enforcement.  The 
South  African  Republic  at  that  time  was  looked  upon  as 
only  a  barren  tract  of  land,  capable  of  supporting  a  settle- 
ment of  hardy  and  simple-minded  agriculturists  and  stock 
raisers,  but  of  no  imminent  interest  to  England.  To  the 
Boers,  however,  the  reservation  was  gall  and  wormwood. 
The  Volksraad  stoutly  resisted  the  breaches  of  the  Sand 
River  Treaty  and  the  assertion  of  suzerainty,  but  having 
no   alternative    but  war,    the  Boer   Parliament    at    last 


28  CAUSES   OF  THE  BOER-BRITISH   WAR. 

reluctantly  consented  to  ' '  provisionally  submit  the  articles 
of  the  convention  to  a  practical  test. " 

The  convention  thus  ' '  provisionally  "  ratified  worked 
ill,  causing  constant  friction  between  the  two  govern- 
ments. As  the  Boers  chafed  more  and  more  under  what 
seemed  to  the  Colonial  Office  a  mere  shadow  of  authority, 
Gladstone  cheerfully  proposed  a  revision  of  the  con- 
vention. 

Thus  came  a  conference  which  led  to  the  second  or 
London  convention  of  1884.  Though  held  in  the  me- 
tropolis of  Great  Britain  itself,  the  British  public  thought 
little  and  cared  less  about  the  matter.  The  Boers  got 
pretty  much  what  they  wanted.  Out  of  deference  to 
Boer  sensitiveness,  the  word  "suzerainty,"  expressly 
used  in  the  convention  of  1881,  was  omitted  in  the  new 
one,  and  the  title  of  British  Resident  was  changed  to 
Diplomatic  Agent,  with  a  restriction  of  his  functions  to 
purely  consular  duties.  Complete  independence  was 
granted  in  domestic  affairs.  The  western  boundaries  of 
the  state  were  mutually  determined  upon. 

Though  the  word  suzerainty  was  dropped,  the  thing 
itself  was  asserted  in  o;ie  clause  which  ran  as  follows: 
"The  South  African  Republic  will  conclude  no  treaty  or 
engagement  with  any  state  or  nation  other  than  the 
Orange  Free  State,  nor  with  any  native  tribe  to  the  east- 
ward or  westward  of  the  republic,  until  the  same  has  been 
approved  by  Her  Majesty  the  Queen." 

As  the  other  clauses  were  concessions  to  Boer  feelings 
so  this  was  a  concession  to  John  Bull's.  Some  years 
passed  before  it  was  looked  upon  as  of  any  vital  impor- 
tance. The  Colonial  Office  winked  at  some  minor  violations 
of  its  spirit.  Only  when  the  Boers  showed  a  disposition 
to  encroach  beyond  the  boundary  limitations  of  the  con- 


CAUSES   OF   THE  BOER-BRITISH   WAR.  29 

vention  was  it  aroused,  and  even  then  to  tardy  action. 
The  Transvaal  government  had  its  heart  set  upon  two 
great  aims.  One  was  to  shut  off  Cape  Colony  from  the 
north;  the  other  to  establish  a  seaport  of  its  own. 

The  conquest  of  Bechuanaland  on  the  east  would 
accomplish  the  first  object;  the  conquest  of  Zululand, 
which  stood  between  it  and  the  ocean  on  the  west,  would 
accomplish  the  latter.  Tentative  raids  to  the  east  and 
the  west  were  suppressed  by  the  British  authorities,  but 
not  until  the  boundaries  of 'the  South  African  Republic 
had  been  slightly  enlarged  on  both  sides. 

In  short,  the  British  took  so  little  interest  in  the  mat- 
ter that  it  is  not  impossible  the  Boers  might  stealthily 
and  gradually  have  succee'ded  in  their  double  aim  had  it 
not  been  for  the  discovery  of  gold  in  the  Witwatersrand. 

The  really  crucial  facts  are  the  discovery  and  develop- 
ment of  the  gold  fields  and  the  change  of  British  policy 
in  South  Africa  which  followed.  Two'  years  after  the 
ratification  of  the  London  convention  came  the  great 
discoveries  in  the  district  of  Lydenburg,  and  a  few  years 
later  the  great  city  of  Johannesburg  had  sprung  into  being. 
Since  1886  ^n  increasing  horde  of  immigrants,  chiefly 
English,  but  numbering  also  Americans,  Germans,  French 
and  Austrians,  have  streamed  into  that  region.  The 
Boers  classed  them  all  as  Outlanders  or  foreigners. 

Meanwhile  the  Boers  had  awakened  to  their  imminent 
peril  of  being  swamped  by  this  invasion  of  aliens.  This 
little  people  of  simple,  hard-working  farmers,  narrow  in 
their  outlook  of  life,  deep-set  in  their  convictions,  contain- 
ing in  their  coarse-grained  nature  the  same  dumb,  patient, 
passionate  love  of  freedom  and  the  same  iron  confidence 
in  the  Bible  and  the  God  of  the  Old  Testament  which 
animated   our  own   seventeenth-century  Puritans — these 


30  CAUSES   OF   THE  BOER-BRITISH   WAR. 

belated  sons  of  Cromwell  found  themselves  confronted  by 
an  invading  stream  of  foreigners  whose  language,  man- 
ners, aims,  and  character  were  fearful  and  unintelligible, 
whom  they  could  not  keep  out,  and  whom  they  were 
called  upon  to  govern. 

They  had  at  one  time  welcomed  immigration.  In 
1884  President  Kruger,  when  in  London,  had  even  pub- 
lished an  invitation  to  Englishmen  to  settle  in  the  country. 
At  that  time  any  settler  could  secure  the  electoral  franchise 
after  a  residence  of  two  years.  Now,  although  the  Boers 
welcomed  the  tide  of  money  that  flowed  into  the  exhausted 
exchequer,  they  took  steps  to  preserve  their  independence 
by  restricting  the  privilege  of  the  ballot. 

The  policy  of  the  Transvaal  was  one  of  growing 
exclusiveness  in  the  bestowal  of  the  franchise,  and  this 
policy  was  consciously  adapted  to  prevent  the  Outlanders 
possessing  a  political  power  commensurate  with  their 
numbers.  In  1882,  when  the  rush  to  the  gold  fields  had 
assumed  formidable  dimensions,  the  old  easy  terms  by 
which  a  two  years'  residence  qualified  for  citizenship  gave 
way  to  a  law  which  required  five  years'  residence  as  a 
qualification  alike  for  naturalization  and  the  burgher  right. 
Further  restrictions  were  added  in  1889  and  1890,  which 
made  it  twenty  years  before  an  outsider  could  become 
possessed  of  full  civic  rights.  In  1894  an  amendment  in 
the  law  was  made,  reducing  in  effect  this  term  of  qualifi- 
cation from  twenty  to  fourteen  years,  but  enacting  a  refer- 
endum which  involved  the  sanction  of  a  two-thirds  majority 
of  burghers  of  a  district  as  a  condition  of  admitting  aliens 
to  burghership. 

The  franchise  became  the  principal  issue  between 
Boer  and  Outlander,  and  the  conditions  which  it  imposed 
constituted  the  principal  grievance  of  the  latter. 


CAUSES   OF  THE  BOER-BRITISH   WAR.  31 

They  claimed  that  they  constituted  a  majority  of  the 
state,  owned  half  of  the  land,  and  paid  nine-tenths  of  the 
taxes,  and  yet  in  all  matters  affecting  their  lives,  liberties 
and  properties  they  had  practically  no  voice. 

To  quote  from  the  statement  of  grievances  of  the 
unenfranchised  Outlanders:  • 

"An  oligarchy  of  rude  Boer  burghers,  relying  upon 
mere  priority  of  possession,  refuses  equality  of  political 
right  or  any  adequate  share  in  government  to  a  majority 
of  new-comers,  mostly  of  British  origin,  to  whose  energy 
and  industrial  enterprise  their  country  owes  a  rapid  devel- 
opment of  wealth,  and  from  whom  it  derives  the  great 
bulk  of  its  revenue.  Instead  of  welcoming  into  the  ranks 
of  their  citizens  the  settlers  who  develop  and  enrich  their 
country,  they  have  in  the  past  applied  a  deliberate  and 
^  progressive  policy  of  exclusion,  and  even  now,  under  fear 
of  inner  revolution  and  outer  force,  proffer  evasive  and 
unsubstantial  concessions.  All  this  in  face  of  the  fact 
that  the  right  of  entry  and  residence  is  expressly  secured 
to  all  foreigners  by  the  London  convention  which,  by  the 
spirit  of  such  a  stipulation,  repudiates  the  policy  of  political 
oppression  practiced  by  the  Transvaal  government." 

Looking  merely  to  the  situation  at  that  time  and  dis- 
regarding the  whole  of  the  conditions  which  led  up  to  and 
explain  it,  this  statement  of  the  grievances  has  a  fair  show 
of  facts  in  its  favor. 

Recent  statistics  show  with  approximate  correctness 
the  size  of  the  Boer  and  Outlander  population  in  the 
Transvaal.  The  number  of  burghers,  comprising  all 
males  over  sixteen,  is  given  as  29,279.  If  we  suppose 
the  same  duration  of  life,  and  the  same  proportion 
between  population  under  and  over  sixteen  to  exist  as 
in  Great  Britain,  the  number  of  the  Boer  population  of 


32  CAUSES  OF  THE  BOER-BRITISH  WAR. 

the  Transvaal  will  be  about  125,000.  As  the  latest 
statistics  give  288,750  as  the  total  white  population,  there 
will  be  163,750  Outlanders.  A  minority  of  the  white 
population  is  thus  seen  to  be  the  sole  owner  of  political 
power.  The  case  of  Johannesburg  is  still  more  striking 
in  its  testimony  to  the  inequality  of  political  rights.  The 
last  census  •shows  that  Johannesburg  contains  1,039 
burghers  to  23,503  Outlanders.  The  violation  of  the 
principle  which  associates  representation  with  taxation  is 
also  undeniable.  Though  there  is  no  evidence  in  support 
of  the  statement  that  the  Outlanders  pay  nine-tenths  of 
the  taxes,  it  is  true  that  the  bulk  of  the  revenue  is  derived 
from  the  gold  fields. 

A  true  statement  of  the  problem  which  the  Transvaal 
government  had  to  face  is  this:  "How  can  we  keep  the 
natural  and  inevitable  flow  of  political  power  into  the 
hands  of  the  Outlanders  at  such  a  pace  as  will  enable  our 
young  government  safely  to  assimilate  them?" 

The  Transvaal  government  did  not  refuse  to  absorb 
and  assimilate  the  Outlander  population.  It  has  always 
recognized  the  necessity  and  the  utility  of  the  admission 
of  new  blood,  but  it  has  not  always  been  discreet  or 
moderate  in  the  tests  and  qualifications  imposed  upon  the 
process.  Even  under  stringent  regulations  the  growth  of 
the  burgher  population  has  been  rapid. 

In  a  formal  statement  made  by  President  Kruger  in 
March,  1899,  he  showed  that  when  the  present  law  was 
made  there  were  10,000  or  12,000  burghers,  so  he  could 
not  do  otherwise  than  make  a  law  as  he  did.  He  urged 
that  if  the  laws  of  adoption  had  been  otherwise  the  flood 
of  immigrants  would  soon  have  voted  them  out.  Now, 
however,  there  were  30,000  or  40,000  burghers,  so  he 
thought   he   could   with  safety  reduce   the  period.      He 


CAUSES  OF  THE  BOER-BRITISH  WAR.  33 

would  leave  the  first  four  years  mentioned  for  naturaliza- 
tion, and  reduce  the  remainder  of  the  period  for  the 
attainment  of  full  burgher  rights  to  five  years.  He  cal- 
culated that  in  this  way  they  would  have  about  70,000 
burghers,  and  the  time  would  probably  come  when  they 
could  still  further  reduce  the  period,  like  other  countries. 

This  gradual  progressive  slackening  of  restrictions  was 
the  only  safe  policy  for  a  small  new  state  in  the  position 
of  the  Transvaal,  hemmed  round  by  British  possessions 
so  that  further  trekking  was  no  longer  possible,  forced  to 
receive  constant  fresh  incursions  from  outside,  and  con- 
fronted with  the  difficulties  of  keeping  order  among  a 
heterogeneous  population  of  European,  Afrikander,  and 
native  races. 

The  Outlanders  had  other  grievances.  They  com- 
plained that  the  taxes  were  oppressive  and  were  squan- 
dered in  the  secret  service  and  the  fortifications  at  Pre- 
toria, while  Johannesburg  remained  a  pesthole.  They 
inveighed  against  the  monopolies  granted  by  the  govern- 
ment, especially  the  dynamite  monopoly,  which  placed  it 
in  the  power  of  a  single  German  firm  to  charge  literally  a 
double  price  for  an  inferior  article.  They  denounced  as 
exorbitant  the  freight  charges  of  the  Netherlands  Railroad 
Company,  which  owns  all  the  railways  in  the  country  and 
is  protected  by  the  government.  They  pointed  out  that 
these  extortions  made  a  serious  difference  in  the  profits  of 
the  best  mines,  threatened  the  existence  of  the  second 
best  and  had  already  led  to  the  abandonment  of  poorer 
ones,  which  would  pay  under  more  liberal  conditions. 

The  best  answer  made  to  the  charge  of  excessive  tax- 
ation is  contained  in  the  following  table,  comparing  the 
finances  of  the  Transvaal  with  the  two  neighboring 
British  colonies: 


34  CAUSES  OF  THE  BOER-BRITISH   WAR. 

1898    REVENUE.  WHITE    POPULATION. 

Transvaal £  3,983,560  288,750  (1898) 

Cape  Colony 6,565,281  376,987  (1891) 

Natal 1,964,314  50,241  (1897) 

Concerning  the  dynamite  monopoly,  President  Kruger 
defended  it  upon  the  ground  that  ' '  the  independence  of 
the  Transvaal  in  case  a  dispute  arose  with  foreign  coun- 
tries required  the  government  to  possess  within  its  bor- 
ders the  means  of  producing  in  sufficient  quantities  the 
various  explosives  essential  to  modern  warfare. " 

The  general  Outlander  discontent  in  the  Transvaal 
reached  a  crisis  in  1896.  The  leaders  among  the  Out- 
landers  at  Johannesburg  formed  a  National  Union,  secured 
arms  from  Cecil  Rhodes'  British  South  African  Company 
and  threatened  to  fight  for  their  rights.  The  most  spec- 
tacular feature  of  the  Outlander  uprising  was  the  Jameson 
raid,  which  is  treated  in  detail  elsewhere  in  this  volume. 
Dr.  Leander  Starr  Jameson,  at  the  head  of  600  troopers 
of  the  British  South  African  Company,  rode  across  the 
border  from  British  Bechuanaland  to  attack  Kimberley, 
but  was  repulsed  with  great  loss  and  compelled  to  sur- 
render.    His  friends  at  Johannesburg  were  disarmed. 

The  belief  that  the  British  Colonial  Office  had  con- 
nived at  the  expedition  and  the  certainty  that  Cecil 
Rhodes  had  inspired  it  increased  the  Boer  distrust  of  their 
hereditary  foes  and  their  unwillingness  to  make  any 
further  concessions.  For  the  moment  Jameson's  fiasco 
cast  a  damper  upon  the  Outlanders.  It  injured  the 
prestige  of  Great  Britain  in  the  eyes  of  the  world.  It 
raised  the  belief  of  the  Boers  in  the  justice  of  their  cause 
and  in  the  continuance  of  its  triumph. 

When  Great  Britain  had  recovered  from  the  tempo- 
rary setback   of  the  Jameson   raid  her   subjects   in  the 


tAVSES  OF  THE  BOER-BRITISH  WAR.  35 

Transvaal  renewed  their  protests  against  the  alleged 
injustices  of  the  Transvaal  government  and  made  fresh 
demands  for  what  they  conceived  to  be  their  rights. 
•  A  crisis  in  the  Boer-Outlander  controversy  was  pre- 
cipitated by  the  shooting  of  a  miner  named  Edgar  while 
resisting  arrest  at  the  hands  of  a  Boer  policeman.  This 
incident  fanned  the  flames  of  hatred  between  the  two 
races  and  a  body  known  as  the  Outlander  council  was 
organized.  Appeal  was  made  to  Sir  Alfred  Milner,  who 
in  1897  had  been  appointed  Governor  of  Cape  Colony 
and  High  Commissioner  of  South  Africa.  Sir  Alfred 
made  an  investigation  and  reported  that  '  •  the  case  for  in- 
tervention was  overwhelming. "  The  English  government, 
with  Joseph  Chamberlain  at  the  head  of  foreign  affairs, 
was  quick  to  sustain  the  view  of  the  High  Commissioner. 
The  case  of  Edgar  became  international,  and  into  the 
diplomatic  correspondence  and  conferences  which  followed, 
all  of  the  Outlander  *•  grievances  "  were  injected.  The 
preliminary  correspondence  led  to  a  conference  between 
President  Kruger  and  Sir  Alfred  Milner  at  the  capital  of 
the  Orange  Free  State.  It  was  held  early  in  June,  1899, 
and  is  officially  known  as  the  "  Bloemfontein  Conference." 
To  a  complete  understanding  of  the  Boer-British  case, 
and  to  enable  the  reader  to  determine  responsibility  for 
the  Boer-British  War  of  1899,  it  is  necessary  to  review 
the  details  of  that  famous  conference,  which,  although  a 
failure,  placed  the  contentions  of  the  two  governments 
fairly  and  squarely  before  the  world. 


CHAPTER  11. 
THE  BLOEMFONTEIN  CONFERENCE. 

Demands  of  Great  Britain  and  Concessions  of  the  Transvaal — Kruger  Outwits 
Milner  and  Chamberlain — War  the  Result. 

I  HE  conference  between  President  Kruger  and 
Sir  Alfred  Milner  at  Bloemfontein  resulted  from 
a  suggestion  made  by  the  latter  in  May,  1890, 
to  the  effect  that  instead  of  the  British  govern- 
ment constantly  intervening  to  protest  against  Out- 
lander  grievances,  it  would  be  better  to  help  the 
Outlanders  to  help  themselves  by  insisting  upon  natural- 
ization and  the  right  of  franchise  on  reasonable  terms. 

So,  when  the  Transvaal  President  and  the  British 
High  Commissioner  met  at  the  Orange  Free  State  capital 
in  June,  1899,  the  "  bone  of  contention"  was  the  franchise. 
Joseph  Chamberlain  himself  accepted  the  franchise  con- 
troversy as  the  only  vital  issue. 

Sir  Alfred  Milner  proposed  as  his  "  irreducible  mini- 
mum" the  following: 

1.  The  franchise  to  be  obtained  by  a  five  years'  resi- 
dence. This  to  be  "  retrospective, "  so  that  all  who  had 
already  been  five  years  in  the  country  would  receive  it  at 
once. 

2.  Seven  seats  in  the  First  Raad  (Parliament)  for  the 
gold  fields. 

President  Kruger's  ultimate  concessions  were  as 
follows : 

36 


THE  BLOEMFONTEIN  CONFERENCE.  3$  " 

1.  To  lower  the  period  of  full  franchise  to  nine  years. 

2.  To  abolish  the  assent  of  the  two-thirds  burghers' 
vote  formerly  required. 

3.  To  give  increased  representation  to  the  districts 
where  the  Outlanders  commanded  a  majority  of  votes. 

The  difference  between  this  proposal  and  that  of  Sir 
A.  Milner,  of  a  five  years'  qualification  with  no  interim 
period  of  naturalization,  with  retrospective  operation  and 
a  minimum  of  seven  members  for  the  Raad,  is  no  differ- 
ence of  principle,  but  merely  of  degree  in  the  application 
of  a  principle. 

The  Bloemfontein  conference  was  therefore  dissolved 
without  any  agreement  having  .l^een  reached,  but  it  had 
had  a  beneficial  effect,  for  upon  returning  to  Pretoria,* 
President  Kruger  introduced  a  bill  in  the  Raad,  which, 
though  complicated,  was  designed  to  harmonize  the  dif- 
ferences. Further,  at  the  instance  of  Mr.  Hofmeyer,  the 
leader  of  the  Dutch  in  Cape  Colony,  and  of  Mr.  Fischer, 
the  representative  of  the  Orange  Free  State,  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Transvaal  consented  to  reduce  the  term  of 
qualification  for  the  franchise  to  seven  years  and  to  make 
it  retrospective.  This  concession  was  well  received  in 
England,  and  that  great  organ  of  British  opinion,  the 
London  Times,  declared  that  "  the  crisis  might  now  be 
regarded  as  ended." 

Mr.  Chamberlaifi  on  July  28,  1899,  announced  to  the 
House  of  Commons  the  hope  that  the  new  law  might 
prove  to  be  a  basis  of  settlement,  and  stated  that  he  was 
proposing  an  inquiry  into  the  effect  of  the  law  by  a  joint 
commission  to  be  appointed  by  both  governments. 

The  Transvaal  government  resisted  the  proposal  for  a 
joint  commission.  They  feared  that  it  would  establish  a 
dangerous  precedent  for  future  intervention  in  their  inter- 

3 


40  THE  BLOEMFONTEIN  CONFERENCE. 

nal  affairs.  If  such  a  proposal  had  been  made  to  the 
government  of  the  United  States  it  would  have  been 
regarded  as  an  insult  and  might  have  proved  a  casus  belli. 

To  offset  Mr.  Chamberlain's  proposal,  the  Transvaal 
government,  on  August  19  of  the  same  year,  submitted  a 
plan  which  not  only  acceded  to  all  the  demands  of  Sir 
^Alfred  Milner,  but  contained  additional  concessions. 

Sir  Alfred  Milner  demanded  the  five  years'  franchise. 

The  Transvaal  government  offered  the  five  years' 
franchise. 

Sir  Alfred  Milner  demanded  seven  seats  in  the  First 
Raad  for  the  gold  fields. 

The  Transvaal  government  offered  eight  seats  in  the 
First  Raad  for  the  gold  fields. 

Sir  Alfred  Milner  demanded  one-fifth  of  the  seats  for 
the  gold  fields  as  a  minimum. 

The  Transvaal  government  offered  one-fourth  of  the 
seats  for  the  gold  fields  as  a  minimum. 

The  offer  was  accompanied  by  the  following  condi- 
tions: 

1.  That  there  should  be  no  further  interference  in  the 
internal  affairs  of  the  Transvaal. 

2.  That  the  British  government  should  not  insist 
further  on  the  assertion  of  the  suzerainty. 

3.  That  other  questions  in  dispute  should  be  subrriitted 
to  arbitration. 

Before  making  this  offer  the  Transvaal  government 
inquired  whether  it  would  be  a  bar  to  a  subsequent 
acceptance  of  Mr.  Chamberlain's  proposal  for  a  joint  com- 
mission. 

Sir  Alfred  Milner  replied  that  "it  would  not  be 
regarded  by  Her  Majesty's  government  as  a  refusal  of 
their  offer. " 


THE  BLOEMFONTEIN  CONFERENCE.  41 

Mr.  Chamberlain  received  the  "five  years'  franchise 
offer"  on  August  22.  He  sent  a  reply  on  August  28 
which  was  more  or  less  ambiguous.  One  condition  — 
arbitration — was  accepted.  With  regard  to  suzerainty 
Mr.  Chamberlain  referred  the  Boers  to  a  previous  dispatch, 
in  which  he  had  said  that  he  maintained  his  own  view,  but 
did  not  care  to  argue  it  any  longer.  This  might  be  con,- 
strued  as  an  acceptance,  and  by  subsequent  admissions  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  Mr.  Chamberlain  made  it  clear 
that  he  meant  it  as  such.  The  one  point  on  which  he  did 
intend  to  "qualify"  his  acceptance  was  future  intervention. 
But  his  qualificatioit  was  meaningless.  The  government, 
he  said,  cannot  '  'debar  themselves  from  their  right  under 
the  Cojive7itions,  nor  divest  themselves  of  the  ordi-nary 
obligations  of  a  civilized  Power  to  protect  outside  subjects 
in  a  foreign  country  from  injiistice. "  There  was  no  reason, 
however,  to  suppose  that  the  Transvaal  intended  to  ask 
anything  so  absurd.  In  point  of  fact,  Mr.  Reitz,  the 
Transvaal  Secretary  of  State,  explained  on  September  2 
that  he  meant  nothing  of  the  kind. 

The  pacific  part  of  Mr.  Chamberlain's  qualified 
acceptance  was  offset  by  two  other  utterances.  Two 
days  before  he  sent  his  "qualified  acceptance"  he  made  a 
speech  in  which  he  described  President  Kruger  as 
• '  dribbling  out  concessions  like  water  from  a  squeezed 
sponge, "  declaring  that  he  ' '  accompanied  his  offers  with 
impossible  conditions, "  and  warned  him  that  "the  sands 
were  running  down  in  the  glass." 

In  addition  to  this  he  added  a  clause  to  his  ' '  quali- 
fied acceptance"  dispatch,  in  which  he  said  substantially 
that  apart  from  the  franchise  there  were  other  questions 
which  could  not  be  settled  by  arbitration. 

The  speech  and   clause  referred   to   led   the    Trans- 


42  THE  BLOEMFONTEIN  CONFERENCE. 

vaal  government  to  withdraw  its  "five  years'  franchise 
offer. "  At  the  same  time  it  accepted  Mr.  Chamberlain's 
proposal  for  a  joint  commission  of  inquiry. 

In  reply  Mr.  Chamberlain  sent  a  dispatch  on  Septem- 
ber 8,  in  which  he  refused  to  enter  upon  an  inquiry 
concerning  the  seven  years'  law. 

The  Transvaal  government  was  astounded.  It  had 
yielded  to  all  of  the  demands  of  Sir  Alfred  Milner  and 
conceded  more  than  was  asked  only  to  find  that  the 
demands  were  withdrawn.  They  accepted  Mr.  Chamber- 
lain's proposal  for  a  joint  commission  of  inquiry  only 
to  be  told  curtly  that  Her  Majesty's'  government  declined 
to  go  on  with  the  inquiry. 

Then  on  September  22,  Mr.  Chamberlain  notified  the 
Transvaal  government  that  Her  Majesty's  government 
would  formulate  its  own  proposals;  that  is  to  say,  demand 
redress  in  detail  for  the  grievances  which  werethe  original 
cause  of  the  trouble. 

Meanwhile  British  troops  were  pouring  into  South 
Africa. 

The  situation  became  so  alarming  that  President  M. 
T.  Steyn  of  the  Orange  Free  State  became  convinced 
that  Great  Britain's  object  was  not  to  obtain  redress 
for  grievances,  but  to  overthrow  the  South  African  Re- 
public. 

Accordingly  on  September  27,  he  made  an  appeal 
to  Sir  Alfred  Milner  in  which  he  stated  that  the 
Orange  Free  State  had  repeatedly  urged  the  Transvaal 
to  make  liberal  concessions  and  that  the  acceptance  of 
the  joint  commission  of  inquiry  had  been  largely  due  to 
the  influence  of  his  government;  further,  that  he  was 
unable  to  understand  why  Great  Britain  withdrew  from 
its  own  proposals.      It  could  only  be  intelligible  on  the 


THE  BLOEMFONTEIN  CONFERENCE  43 

ground  that  Great  Britain  was  seeking  to  destroy  the 
independence  of  the  Transvaal,  and  if  this  were  true, 
the  Orange  Free  State  would  be  the  next  to  be  threat- 
ened. 

On  September  30,  the  Transvaal  made  an  urgent 
request  that  the  British  proposals  should  be  submitted 
to  it. 

Great  Britain's  reply  was  to  call  out  her  reserves 
and  announce  the  dispatch  of  an  army  corps  to  South 
Africa. 

On  October  3,  and  again  on  October  4,  President 
Steyn,  of  the  Orange  Free  State,  sent  messages  to  Sir 
Alfred  Milner  offering  to  mediate  and  requesting  that 
pending  peaceful  negotiations  troops  should  not  be  sent  to 
the  scene.  These  appeals  in  behalf  of  peace  proved  un- 
availing. Great  Britain  continued  to  strengthen  her 
military  forces  on  the  frontier  and  preparations  for  war 
continued  in  London. 

Affairs  had  reached  a  stage  where  President  Kruger 
either  had  to  assume  the  aggressive  or  be  placed  in  a 
position  where  even  armed  resistance  would  be  futile. 
Accordingly,  on  October  9,  he  issued  the  following  ultima- 
tum: 

HQr  Majesty's  unlawful  intervention  in  the  internal  affairs 
of  this  republic,  in  conflict  with  the  London  convention  of  1884, 
by  the'  extraordinary  strengthening  of  her  troops  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  borders  of  this  republic,  has  caused  an  intolerable 
condition  of  things  to  arise,  to  which  this  government  feels  itself 
obliged,  in  the  interest  not  only  of  this  republic,  but  also  of  all 
South  Africa,  to  make  an  end  as  soon  as  possible. 

This  government  feels  itself  called  upon  and  obliged  to  press 
earnestly  and  with  emphasis  for  an  immediate  termination  of 
this  state  of  things  and  to  request  Her  Majesty's  government  to 
give  assurances  upon  the  following  four  demands: 


44  THE  BLOEMFONTEIN  CONFERENCE. 

First — That  all  points  of  mutual  difference  be  regulated  by 
friendly  intercourse  to  arbitration  or  by  whatever  amicable  way 
may  be  agreed  upon  by  this  government  and  Her  Majesty's  gov- 
ernment. 

Second — That  all  troops  on  the  borders  of  this  republic  shall 
be  instantly  withdrawn. 

Third — That  all  reinforcements  of  troops  which  have  arrived 
in  South  Africa  since  June  i,  1899,  shall  be  removed  from  South 
Africa  within  a  reasonable  time,  to  be  agreed  upon  with  this 
government,  and  with  the  mutual  assurance  and  guarantee  on 
the  part  of  this  government  that  no  attack  upon  or  hostilities 
against  any  portion  of  the  possessions  of  the  British  government 
shall  be  made  by  this  republic  during  the  further  negotiations 
within  a  period  of  time  to  be  subsequently  agreed  upon  between 
the  governments;  and  this  government  will,  on  compliance 
therewith,  be  prepared  to  withdraw  the  armed  burghers  of  this 
republic  from  the  borders. 

Fourth — That  Her  Majesty's  troops  which  are  now  on  the 
l^igh  seas  shall  not  be  landed  in  any  part  of  South  Africa. 

To  these  demands  was  appended  the  definition  of  the 
time  limit  for  a  reply. 

This  government  presses  for  an  immediate  and  affirmative 
answer  to  these  four  questions,  and  earnestly  requests  Her 
Majesty's  government  to  return  an  answer  before  or  upon 
Wednesday,  October  11,  1899,  not  later  than  5  o'clock  p.  m. 

It  desires  further  to  add  that  in  the  unexpected  event  of  an 
answer  not  satisfactory  being  received  by  it  within  the  interval, 
it  will  with  great  regret  be  compelled  to  regard  the  action  of  Her 
Majesty's  government  as  a  formal  declaration  of  war,  and  will 
not  hold  itself  responsible  for  the  consequences  thereof,  and  that, 
in  the  event  of  any  further  movement  of  troops  occurring  within 
the  above-mentioned  time  in  a  nearer  direction  to  our  borders, 
this  government  will  be  compelled  to  regard  that  also  as  a  formal 
declaration  of  war. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  respectfully  yours, 

F.  W.  REITZ,  State  Secretary. 


THE  BLOEMFONTEIN  CONFERENCE.  45 

The  Transvaal  case  was  set  forth  at  length  in  the  fol- 
lowing message,  sent  at  the  same  time  to  Sir  Alfred 
Milner,  British  High  Commissioner  : 

Sir:  The  government  of  the  South  African  Republic  feels 
itself  compelled  to  refer  the  government  of  Her  Majesty,  Queen 
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  once  more  to  the  convention  of 
London,  1884,  concluded  between  this  republic  and  the  United 
Kingdom,  and  which,  in  Article  XIV.,  secures  certain  specified 
rights  to  the  white  population  of  this  republic — namely :  that  all 
persons  other  than  natives,  on  conforming  themselves  to  the  laws 
of  the  South  African  Republic: 

"A — Will  have  full  liberty,  with  their  families,  to  enter, 
travel,  or  reside  in  any  part  of  the  South  African  Republic. 

"B — They  will  be  entitled  to  hire  or  possess  houses,  manu- 
facturies,  warehouses,  shops,  and  other  premises. 

"C — They  may  carry  on  their  commerce  either  in  person  or 
by  any  agents  whom  they  may  think  fit  to  employ. 

"D — They  shall  not  be  subject,  in  respect  of  their  premises 
or  in  respect  of  their  commerce  and  industry,  to  any  taxes  other 
than  those  which  are,  or  may  be,  imposed  upon  the  citizens  of 
the  said  republic." 

This  government  wishes  further  to  observe  that  these  are  the 
only  rights  which  Her  Majesty's  government  has  reserved  in  the 
above  convention  with  regard  to  the  outlander  population  of  this 
republic,  and  that  a  violation  only  of  those  rights  could  give  that 
government  a  right  to  diplomatic  representation  or  intervention ; 
while,  moreover,  the  regulation  of  all  other  questions  affecting 
the  position  of  the  rights  of  the  outlander  population,  under  the 
above-mentioned  convention,  is  handed  over  to  the  government 
and  representatives  of  the  people  of  the  South  African  Republic. 

Among  the  questions  the  regulation  of  which  falls  exclusively 
within  the  competence  of  this  government  and  of  the  Volksraad 
are  included  those  of  the  franchise  and  the  representation  of  the 
people  in  this  republic ;  and,  although  this  exclusive  right  of  this 
government  and  of  the  Volksraad  for  the  regulation  of  the  fran- 
chise and  the  representation  of  the  people  is  indisputable,  yet  this 
government  has  found  occasion  to  discuss,  in  friendly  fashion, 


46  THE  BLOEMFONTEIN  CONFERENCE. 

the  franchise  and  representation  of  the  people  with  Her  Majesty's 
government — without,  however,  recognizing  any  right  thereto 
on  the  part  of  Her  Majesty's  government. 

This  government  has  also,  by  the  formulation  of  the  now 
existing  franchise  law,  and  by  a  resolution  -with  regard  to  the 
representation,  constantly  held  these  friendly  discussions  before 
its  eyes.  On  the  part  of  Her  Majesty's  government,  however, 
the  friendly  nature  of  these  discussions  has  assumed  more  and 
more  a  threatening  tone,  and  the  minds  of  the  people  of  this 
republic  and  the  whole  of  South  Africa  have  been  excited  and  a 
condition  of  extreme  tension  has  been  created,  owing  to  the  fact 
that  Her  Majesty's  government  could  no  longer  agree  to  the 
legislation  respecting  the  franchise  and  the  resolution  respecting 
the  representation  in  this  republic,  and,  finally,  by  your  note  of 
September  25,  1899,  which  broke  off  all  friendly  correspondence 
on  the  subject  and  intimated  that  Her  Majesty's  government 
must  now  proceed  to  formulate  its  own  proposals  for  the  final 
settlement. 

This  government  can  only  see  in  the  above  intimation  from 
Her  Majesty's  government  a  new  violation  of  the  convention  of 
London,  1884,  which  does  not  reserve  to  Her  Majesty's  govern- 
ment the  right  to  a  uni-lateral  settlement  of  a  question  which  is 
exclusively  a  domestic  one  for  this  government,  and  which  has 
already  been  regulated  by  this  government. 

On  account  of  the  strained  situation  and  the  consequent 
serious  loss  in  and  interruption  of  trade  in  general,  which  the 
correspondence  respecting  franchise  and  the  representation  of 
the  people  of  this  republic  has  carried  in  its  train.  Her  Majesty's 
government  has  recently  pressed  for  an  early  settlement,  and 
finally  pressed,  by  your  intervention,  for  an  answer  within  forty- 
eight  hours,  a  demand  subsequently  somewhat  modified,  to  your 
note  of  September  12,  replied  to  by  the  note  of  this  government 
of  September  15,  and  to  your  note  of  September  25,  1899,  and 
thereafter  further  friendly  negotiations  were  broken  off,  this 
government  receiving  an  intimation  that  a  proposal  for  a  final 
settlement  would  shortly  be  made. 

Although  this  promise  was  once  more'  repeated,  the  proposal, 
up  to  now,  has  not  reached  this  government. 

Even  while  this  friendly  correspondence  was  still  going  ou 


GENERAL  JOUBERT. 


THE  BLOEMFONTEIN  CONFERENCE.  47 

the  increase  of  troops  on  a  large  scale  was  introduced  by  Her 
Majesty's  government,  the  troops  being  stationed  in  the  neigli- 
borhood  of  the  borders  of  this  republic. 

Having  regard  to  the  occurrences  in  the  history  of  this 
republic,  which  it  is  unnecessary  here  to  call  to  mind,  this  repub- 
lic felt  obliged  to  regard  this  military  force  in  the  neighborhood 
of  its  borders  as  a  threat  against  the  independence  of  the  South 
African  Republic,  since  it  was  aware  of  no  circumstances  which 
would  justify  the  presence  of  such  a  military  force  in  South 
Africa  and  in  the  neighborhood  of  its  borders. 

In  answer  to  an  inquiry  with  respect  thereto,  addressed  to 
his  Excellency  the  High  Commissioner,  this  government 
received,  to  its  great  astonishment,  in  answer  a  veiled  insinua- 
tion that  from  the  side  of  the  republic  an  attack  was  being  made 
on  Her  Majesty's  colonies,  and,  at  the  same  time,  a  mysterious 
reference  to  possibilities  whereby  this  government  was  strength- 
ened in  its  suspicion  that  the  independence  of  this  republic  was 
being  threatened. 

As  a  defensive  measure,  this  government  was,  therefore, 
obliged  to  send  a  portion  of  the  burghers  of  this  republic  in  order 
to  offer  requisite  resistance  to  similar  possibilities. 

To  the  ultimatum  of  President  Kruger,  the  following 
brief  reply  was  made  on  October  10  by  Colonial  Secretary 
Chamberlain  in  a  message  addressed  to  Sir  Alfred  Milner: 

"Her  Majesty's  government  has  received  with  great 
regret  the  peremptory  demands  of  the  South  African  Re- 
public conveyed  in  your  telegram  of  October  9.  You  will 
inform  the  government  of  the  South  African  Republic  in 
reply  that  the  conditions  demanded  by  the  government 
of  the  South  African  Republic  are  such  as  Her  Majesty's 
government  deems  it  impossible  to  discuss. " 

Upon  the  expiration  of  the  'iltimatum,  war  existed  be- 
tween the  South  African  Republic  and  the  Transvaal, 
although  the  formal  declaration  did  not  go  into  effect  un- 
til 10  o'(;lock  A.  M.  October  j?, 


48  THE   BLOEMFONTEIN  CONFERENCE. 

Sir  Alfred  Milner  sent  a  note  of  inquiry  to  President 
Steyn  of  the  Orange  Free  State  asking  him  to  define  the 
attitude  of  his  government,  and  received  a  reply  that  the 
Orange  Free  State  would  make  common  cause  with  the 
Transvaal.  This  was  to  have  been  expected  in  view  of 
the  ties  of  blood  and  similarity  of  government  and  also 
for  the  reason  that  following  the  Jameson  raid  a  treaty  of 
defense  was  entered  into  between  the  Transvaal  and  its 
sister  republic. 

On  October  1 1  President  Steyn  issued  a  proclamation 
in  which  he  said: 

Our  sister  republic  is  about  to  be  attacked  by  an  unscrupulous 
enemy,  who  has  long  looked  for  a  pretext  to  annihilate  the 
Afrikanders.  Our  people  are  bound  to  the  Transvaal  by  ties 
as  well  as  by  formal  treaty. 

I  declare  in  the  presence  of  the  Almighty,  that  I  am  com- 
pelled to'  resist  the  powerful  enemy,  owing  to  the  injustice  done 
his  kith  and  kin.  Solemn  obligations  have  not  protected  the 
Transvaal  against  the  annexation  conspiracy,  and  when  its  inde- 
pendence ceases  the  Free  State's  existence  as  an  independent 
state  is  meaningless. 

The  experience  of  the  past  shows  that  no  reliance  can  be 
placed  upon  the  solemn  promises  and  obligations  of  Great  Britain, 
when  an  administration  is  at  the  helm  that  is  prepared  to  tread 
treaties  under  foot. 

Then  followed  a  historial  sketch  of  the  alleged  wrong, 
after  which  the  proclamation  continued: 

The  original  conventions  have  been  twisted  and  turned  by 
Great  Britain  as  a  means  of  exercising  tyranny  in  the  Transvaal, 
for  which  no  return  injustice  has  been  done  in  the  past.  No 
gratitude  has  been  shown  for  the  indulgence  granted  British 
residents,  who,  according  to  law,  have  forfeited  their  lives  and 
property. 


THE  BLOEMFONTEIN  CONFERENCE.  49 

Compliance  with  the  British  demand  would  be  equivalent  to 
the  l«ss  of  independence,  which  has  been  gained  by  the  blood 
and  tears  of  many  years. 

The  British  troops  are  concentrating  on  the  borders  of  the 
Transvaal  in  order  to  compel  by  terrorism  compliance  with  the 
claims  and  crafty  plans  of  those  whose  motive  is  love  of  gold. 
Realizing  which,  while  acknowledging  the  honor  of  thousands 
of  Englishmen  who  abhor  deeds  of  robbery  and  violence,  the 
Free  State  execrates  the  wrongful  deeds  of  British  statesmen. 

The  proclamation  expressed  the  confidence  of  the 
president  that  the  Almighty  would  help  and  aid  the  Boers 
and  counseled  the  burghers  to  do  nothing  unworthy  of 
Christians  and  of  burghers  of  a  free  state.  It  concluded, 
with  the  following  command: 

Burghers  of  the  Free  State,  stand  up  as  one  man  against  the 
oppressor  and  violator  of  right. 

The  two  republics  received  the  moral  aid  of  the  Cape 
Colony  Dutch,  and  as  opportunity  offered  many  of  the  lat- 
ter joined  the  military  forces  of  their  kinsmen. 

The  English  Parliament  was  opened  in  extraordinary 
session  on  October  17  and  voted  10,000,000  pounds  as  a 
war  fund. 

It  has  been  said  that  "the  bloodshed  and  misery  of 
the  Boer-British  War  of  1899  were  not  the  inevitable  out- 
come of  irreconcilable  differences,  but  the  miserable  con- 
sequences of  a  diplomatic  muddle." 

Such  was  the  opinion  of  a  distinguished  conservative 
member  of  Parliament,  Sir  Edward  Clarke,  who  said  in 
the  debate  which  followed  in  the  House  of  Commons: 

If  I  had  read  these  Blue  Books  not  knowing  the  persons  who 
were  concerned  in  the  matter,  I  must  confess  I  should  have  been 
forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the  correspondence  was  conducted 


50  THE  BLOEMFONTEIN  CONFJER^NCE. 

not  with  a  view  to  peace.  I  do  not  believe  that  for  one  moment. 
We  have  the  statement  of  the  right  honorable  gentleman  th^t  he 
has  been  working  for  peace.  But  if  he  has  been  working  for 
peace  in  this  matter,  I  cannot  help  saying  that  a  more  clumsy 
correspondence  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  records  of  diplomatic 
procedure. 


Co) 


CHAPTER  III. 
THE  GREAT  DARK  CONTINENT. 

How   Africa  is    Divided   Among    the   Nations,  with    Facts   Concerning   the 
People  Who  Inhabit  It — Recent  Developments. 

^^  EFORE  entering  upon  the  direct  history  of  the 
Boer-British  War  of  1899,  it  is  desirable,  if  not 
material,    that   the   reader   should   have   some 
idea  of  the  Great  Dark  Continent  and  the  many 
races  that  inhabit  it. 

For  generations  Africa  has  been  a  synonym  for  every- 
thing mysterious,  both  as  to  history  and  condition.  In 
these  unexplored  regions  the  slave  dealer  of  the  Soudan 
carried  on  his  nefarious  work  unmolested,  and  the  great 
KafBr  and  Zulu  tribes  of  the  south  and  east  waged  fierce 
warfare  and  bade  defiance  to  those  seeking  to  explore 
their  territory.  But  a  great  change  has  come  about  in 
the  last  few  years.  The  searchlight  of  modern  civilization 
has  penetrated  the  darkness  of  darkest  Africa,  and  where 
the  crack  of  the  slavedriver's  whip  and  the  scream  of  his 
victim  were  heard,  there  is  now  the  whistle  of  the  locomo- 
tive, the  click  of  the  telegraph  and  the  hoarse  whistle  of 
the  steamboat.  The  mines  at  Kimberley  furnish  ninety 
per  cent  of  the  diamonds  of  the  world,  and  the  gold  of 
Ophir,  lost  to  mankind  for  ages,  is  now  rediscovered  and 
has  become  the  richest  deposit  of  the  precious  metal 
known  to  mankind. 

With  these  developments  have  come  wondrous  changes 

51 


52  THE   GREAT  DARK  CONTINENT. 

in  the  map  of  the  continent,  and  instead  of  the  great 
blank  which  covered  the  interior,  the  location  of  nav- 
igable rivers  and  lakes  and  the  boundary  lines  into  which 
eager  nations  have  divided  the  continent  are  now  clearly 
shown.  To-day,  scarcely  a  section  of  its  12,000,000 
square  miles  remains  unclaimed.  On  the  north  and 
northwest  France  holds  a  territory  equal  in  extent  to  the 
United  States,  while  on  the  east  and  west  coasts  Germany 
claims  an  area  one-third  as  large,  where  she  is  establish- 
ing experimental  farms,  building  railroads  and  encourag- 
ing the  growth  of  tropical  products.  Portugal,  whose  great 
explorers  were  the  first  to  round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
holds  valuable  tracts  of  territory  on  the  western  and  eastern 
coasts  and  with  the  latter  a  harbor  through  which  millions 
of  dollars'  worth  of  imports  pass  en  route  to  the  Boer 
republics  and  the  gold  and  diamond  mines;  Turkey  has 
Egypt  and  Tripoli  at  the  north;  Italy  controls  possessions 
on  the  east,  and  the  territories  of  Spain  border  the  Rio  de 
Oro  on  the  west.  Belgium  administers  the  affairs  of  the 
Kongo  Free  State  in  the  very  heart  of  the  continent,  and 
there  are  five  independent  states:  Morocco  on  the  north; 
Liberia  on  the  west;  Abyssinia  on  the  east,  and  the  two 
Boer  republics,  the  Orange  Free  State  and  Transvaal  Re- 
public at  the  south. 

And  most  important  and  of  the  greatest  present  inter- 
est is  the  line  of  continuous  territory  stretching  through 
the  eastern  section  of  the  continent  from  north  to  south, 
in  which  the  English  language  and  Anglo-Saxon  customs 
prevail.  Throughout  the  vast  distance  of  over  5,000 
miles  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  to  Egypt,  British 
control  is  continuous  except  a  short  distance  of  about  600 
miles,  three-fourths  of  which  is  spanned  by  the  navigable 
waters  of  Lake  Tanganyika;  and  thus  the  youngest  civili- 


THE  GREAT  DARK  CONTINENT.  53 

zation  in  the  heart  of  Africa  sends  greetings  to  the  seats 
of  the  oldest  civilization,  Egypt,  and  sends  it  in  the 
English  language.  The  territory  under  British  control  in 
Africa  aggregates  2,500,000  square  miles,  and  if  this  were 
added  to  the  Egyptian  territory  where  the  British  flag 
flies  beside  that  of  Egypt,  and  British  influence  directs 
afl^airs,  the  total  area  would  be  considerably  over  3,000,000 
square  miles,  or  fully  equal  to  the  entire  territory  of  the 
United  States,  exclusive  of  Alaska. 

Physically,  the  African  continent  is  unique.  Five  thou- 
sand miles  in  extreme  length  and  over  4,000  in  breadth, 
its  area  is  greater  than  that  of  any  other  continent 
except  Asia,  the  latest  estimate  being  1 1,874,600  square 
miles,  and  its  population  variously  estimated  at  from 
125,000,000  to  175,000,000.  The  fact  that  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  interior  is  elevated  tableland  and  extends 
on  all  sides  nearly  to  the  coast,  renders  access  to  the 
interior  by  means  of  the  large  streams  difficult.  But 
after  Livingstone,  Stanley,  Speke  and  other  explorers  had 
discovered  that  navigable  streams  existed  in  the  interior, 
it  occurred  to  man  to  transport  steam  vessels  around  the 
falls  which  exist  at  those  points  where  the  rivers  pass  from 
the  plateau  to  the  coast  and  set  them  afloat  in  the  great 
waterways  of  the  interior.  By  this  means  thousands  of 
miles  into  the  interior  have  been  penetrated,  and  facts 
never  before  known  and  which  could  not  have  been 
developed  by  land  exploration  have  been  brought  to 
light. 

Another  obstacle  to  exploration  and  which  has  only  been 
overcome  with  the  utmost  difficulty  is  the  vast  expanse  of 
desert  stretching  across  the  north  of  Africa  and  extending 
on  eastward  through  Arabia,  Persia,  Turkestan  and  Mon- 
golia in  Asia;  and  south  of  these  great  deserts  lies  a  belt 


U  THE  GREA  T  DARK  CONftNENT, 

entirely  dissimilar,  but  which  for  different  reasons  has 
proved  an  equal  obstacle  to  exploration.  This  territory  is 
known  as  the  Soudan,  which  in  Arabic  means  the  country 
of  the  blacks,  and  includes  the  territories  from  the  Atlan- 
tic eastward  to.  the  Red  Sea,  lying  immediately  south  of 
the  Sahara  and  extending  to  the  Kongo  basin.  For  many 
years  it  has  been  the  scene  of  conflicts  between  the  Negro 
population  and  the  Arab  slave-hunters  and  others  who 
operate  along  the  lines  where  the  Sahara  merges  into  the 
Soudan,  and  whose  operations,  naturally  resisted  by  the 
blacks,  rendered  exploration  almost  impossible. 

Another  obstacle  lies  in  the  diversity  of  languages 
spoken  in  the  Soudan,  and  the  warlike  character  of  its 
inhabitants. 

The  possessions  of  the  various  nations  in  Africa  are 
divided  as  follows:  In  the  southern  -and  eastern  sections 
lie  the  British  territories.  Cape  Colony  the  oldest,  occu- 
pies the  extreme  south,  and  came  into  the  possession  of 
England  in  1796.  Originally  discovered  by  the  Portu- 
guese in  1485,  it  was  taken  by  the  Dutch,  and  in  1652  the 
Dutch  East  India  Company  established  a  colony  there, 
but  after  the  general  peace  of  18 14  between  the  English 
and  the  Dutch,'  it  passed  into  the  control  of  Great  Britain 
and  became  a  crown  colony.  The  Dutch  still  retained 
their  own  language  and  customs,  and  the  law  of  the  colony 
to-day  is  a  modification  of  the  Roman  Dutch  law. 

The  area  of  Cape  Colony  is  estimated  at  from  277,000 
to  292,000  square  miles  and  the  population  is  now  given 
as  2,011,305,  of  which  number  400,000  are  white,  and 
these  largely  of  Dutch  descent. 

Natal,  which  lies  northeast  of  the  Cape,  derives  its 
name  from  the  fact  of  its  discovery  by  the  Portuguese  on 
Christmas  Day,  1497.     It  was  first  settled  by  the  Dutch, 


GENKRAL    BLLl-ER. 


THE  GREAT  DARK  CONTINENT  57 

and  later  annexed  by  the  Encjjlish  in  1843,  and  later  made 
a  colony  distinct  from  the  Cape,  and  in  1897  Zululand 
and  Amatongaland  were  incorporated  with  it. 

The  area  is  given  as  35,000  square  miles  and  the 
population  as  829.000,  of  which  61.000  are  Europeans. 

Bechuanaland,  north  of  Cape  Colony,  has  an  area  of 
about  213,000  square  miles  and  a  population  estimated  at 
200,000.  North  of  Bechuanaland  lies  Rhodesia,  or  British 
South  Africa,  with  an  area  of  750,000  square  miles  and  a 
population  between  1,000,000  and  2.000,000.  The  gov- 
ernment of  Rhodesia  is  under  the  direct  charge  of  the 
British  South  African  Company,  but  subject  to  the  British 
commissioner  at  Cape  Colony.  It  is  one  of  the  most 
advanced  provinces  of  Great  Britain  in  South  Africa  and 
from  its  development  the  present  Tranivaal  trouble  first 
originated.  It  was  in  this  territory  that  Cecil-  Rhodes 
and  President  Kruger  met  in  diplomatic  conflict,  and 
here  it  was  that  Rhodes  gained  his  victory  over  the  wily 
Boer. 

In  Rhodesia  the  plots  are  hatched  which  may  ulti- 
mately make  Great  Britain  mistress  of  all  Africa  and 
it  is  Rhodesia  that  threatens  to  rival  Cape  Colony  in 
importance. 

East  of  Rhodesia  lies  the  British  Central  Africa  pro- 
tectorate with  an  area  of  42,217  square  miles  and  a  popu- 
lation of  845,000,  and  intervening  between  the  British 
possessions  are  the  German  territories  and  the  territories 
of  Egypt,  in  the  Nile  basin,  thus  interrupting  the  stretch 
of  British  influence  from  the  Cape  to  Cairo  by  less  than 
600  miles. 

Under  the  Equator  lies  British  East  Africa,  an  enor- 
mous region  extending  northwesterly  to  the  upper  Nile 
valley,  where  it  merges  into  the  Egyptian  Soudan,  and  in 
4  .  . 


58  THE   GREAT  DARK  CONTINENT. 

the  south  touches  the  borders  of  Uganda.  The  entire 
territory  includes  the  East  African  protectorate,  the 
Uganda  protectorate  and  the  Zanzibar  protectorate. 
The  entire  area,  including  the  protectorates,  embraces 
over  one  million  square  miles,  and  according  to  the  best 
estimates  the  population  numbers  about  3,000,000,  of 
which  about  25,000  are  Asiatics  and  500  Europeans  and 
Eurasians,  or  half-castes  of  European  and  Asiatic  par- 
entage. 

The  Egyptian  Soudan,  lately  recovered  by  Lord 
Kitchener,  includes  about  950,000  square  miles,  with  a 
population  of  about  10,000,000.  Egypt  joins  it  on  the 
north,  while  away  to  the  east  lies  British  Somaliland,  a 
small  region  inhabited  by  tribes  of  Negro  and  Arab  blood. 
This  territory  is  divided  between  Great  Britain,  Italy  and 
Abyssinia. 

The  British  Niger  territories  on  the  west  coast  of 
Africa  are  relatively  small  when  contrasted  with  those  in 
eastern  Africa,  but  these  territories,  with  an  area  of  about 
350,000  square  miles  and  a  population  of  25,000,000,  He 
on  the  other  side  of  the  river  Niger,  which  affords  unin- 
terrupted steam  navigation  between  the  sea  and  the  heart 
of  the  continent. 

French  Algeria  includes  Algeria,  Tunis,  the  French 
Sahara,  the  Senegal  region  and  the  French  Kongo,  with 
an  area  of  over  3,000,000  square  miles  and  a  population 
estimated  at  27,000,000.  The  Niger  flows  for  more  than 
half  its  length  through  French  territory,  and  by  an  agree- 
ment of  nations  it  is  held  to  be  subject  to  free  navigation, 
which  is  assisted  by  a  tax  on  all  nations  using  the  river, 
the  money  to  be  expended  for  the  general  improvement 
and  administration  of  navigation. 

Germany  controls  about    1,000,000   square    miles   of 


THE  GREAT  DARK  CONTINENT  59 

terntory  in  Africa,  with  a  population  of  something  over 
10,000,000  people.  This  region  comprises  Togoland, 
Kamerun,  German  southwest  Africa  and  German  east 
Africa,  and  is  extremely  productive.  Prince  Bismarck 
first  advised  German  colonization  in  Africa,  to  give  Ger- 
many the  same  ad.vantage  of  other  colony-holding  nations, 
but  the  arbitrary  manner  of  administering  affairs  pro- 
duces constant  friction  between  the  colonists  and  the 
military  authorities  and  but  little  is  done  for  the  real  good 
of  the  colonies. 

Portugal  to-day  holds  less  territory  than  other  nations 
which  came  later  into  the  field,  but  still  her  possessions 
in  east  and  west  Africa,  are  not  inconsiderable,  and 
because  of  their  location  are  greatly  desired  by  England. 
On  the  other  hand,  Turkey  has  only  a  shadowy  authority 
over  Egypt  and  Tripoli,  but  Egypt,  which  has  a  larger 
commerce  than  any  other  division  of  Africa  except  the 
English  colonies  in  the  extreme  south,  is  under  the  con- 
trol of  England,  and  all  Turkey  receives  is  the  payment 
of  a  fixed  revenue. 

The  Italian  possessions  in  Africa  are  located  exclu- 
sively on  the  eastern  coast  and  their  small  commerce  is 
chief)y  carried  on  by  the  natives. 

The  Spanish  territories  include  only  that  portion  of 
the  continent  lying  south  of  Morocco,  known  as  Rio  de 
Oro,  and  the  Canary  Islands.  The  population  of  the 
Rio  de  Oro  is  almost  entirely  native  and  the  trade  ex- 
tremely small. 

The  Kongo  Free  State,  with  an  area  of  900,000  square 
miles  and  a  population  of  30,000,000,  is  under  the  sover- 
eignty of  the  king  of  the  Belgians,  but  in  1889  the  king  of 
the  Belgians  bequeathed  all  his  rights  in  the  state  to 
Belgium,  and  a  convention  was  made  between  Belgium 


6o  THE    GREA  T  DARK  CONTINENT. 

and  the  independent  state  renouncing  to  Belgium  the 
Kongo  Free  State  after  a  period  of  ten  years,  which  takes 
place  in  1900,  the  convention  having  been  made  in  1890. 
The  capital  of  the  Kongo  Free  State  is  Boma  and  the 
central  government  is  at  Brussels  and  consists  of  the  king 
of  Belgium,  three  departmental  officers  having  as  their 
representative  a  governor-general  at  Boma,  assisted  by 
commissioners  who  govern  the  fifteen  administrative  dis- 
tricts. 

Liberia,  the  black  republic  of  Africa,  lies  on  the  west 
coast  and  the  population  is  about  25,000  colored  immi- 
grants from  the  United  States,  and  their  descendants,  and 
about  1,500,000  natives.  The  executive  government  is 
vested  in  a  president  elected  for  two  years,  assisted  by  a 
cabinet;  the  laws  are  enacted  by  a  legislature  composed 
of  a  senate  with  eight  members,  elected  for  four  years, 
and  a  house  of  representatives  with  thirteen  members, 
elected  for  two  years.  Liberia  was  founded  by  the 
American  Colonization  Society  in  1820,  and  has  been 
recognized  by  the  powers  as  an  independent  state  since 
1847.  Its  area  is  constantly  increasing,  now  containing 
48,000  square  miles,  and  on  the  whole  the  colony  is  fairly 
prosperous. 

In  the  extreme  east  of  Africa  is  Abyssinia,  formerly 
known  as  Ethiopia,  with  an  erea  of  about  150,000  square 
miles  and  a  population  of  3,500,000.  Its  condition  is  still 
semi-barbarous.  The  political  institutions  are  of  a  feudal 
character  similar  to  those  of  mediaeval  Europe,  and 
the  rehgion  of  the  people  is  that  of  the  old  Ebionite 
Christians. 

The  two  republics,  the  Transvaal  and  the  Orange 
Free  State,  are  in  South  Africa,  hemmed  in  by  the  British 
possessions  and  a  strip  of  Portuguese  territory.     As  these 


THE  GREAT  DARK  CONTINENT.  6i 

two  independent  states  and  their  people  are  of  principal 
interest  in  this  history  a  description  of  them  will  be  found 
in  another  chapter  under  the  heading  ' '  The  Boers  and 
Their  Country." 

Commercially  the  development  of  Africa  has  kept  pace 
with  its  development  in  transportation,  mining  and  agri- 
cultural conditions,  and  already  the  foreign  commerce  of 
the  continent  is  estimated  at  $750,000,000.  A  large 
portion  of  this  trade  is  with  England,  while  in"  the  north 
France  controls  the  trade  of  Algeria  and  is  extending  her 
commerce  in  the  west. 

Railroad  development  has  been  equally  rapid  in  tbe 
past  few  years,  and  already  the  railroad  from  Cairo  to  the 
Cape  is  completed,  with  the  exception  of  about  3,000 
miles,  and  other  railroads  running  to  the  interior  are 
under  construction.  At  the  north  numerous  lines  of  rail- 
way skirt  the  Mediterranean  coast,  especiall}' in  the  French 
territory  of  Algeria  and  Tunis,  where  the  length  of  the 
railway  is  2,250  miles,  while  the  Egyptian  roads,  includ- 
ing those  under  construction,  are  about  1,500  miles  in 
length. 

Much  of  the  recent  development  of  Africa  is  due  to 
the  gold  and  diamond  mines,  and  the  Kimberley  diamond 
mines  now  supply  90  per  cent  of  the  diamonds  of  com- 
merce, while  the  great  "  Witwatersrand "  gold  fields  of 
the  South  African  Republic  have  produced  gold  to  the  value 
of  $300,000,000  since  1884. 


CHA]?TER  IV. 
THE  BOERS  AND  THEIR  COUNTRY. 

A  Much  Misreprefiented  People  Who  are  Hospitable  and  Intensely  Religious — 
Life  in  the  Transvaal  and  Orange  Free  State. 

FAVORITE  map  of  South  Africa  is  one  in 
\  color  which  sho'ws  all  the  British  possessions 
>i^r^,  in  pink.  If  the  reader  will  consult  one  of 
''  '^  these  maps  he  will  find  that  the  two  Boer 
republics,  the  Transvaal  and  the  Orange  Free  ,State,  are 
completely  surrounded  by  pink,  with  the  exception  of  a 
strip  of  yellow  east  of  the  Transvaal,  belonging  to  Por- 
tugal. Starting  at  this  point  we  have  Tongaland  and 
Zululand  east  and  southeast  of  the  Transvaal;  Natal 
south  of  the  Transvaal  and  east  of  the  Orange  Free 
State;  Basutoland  and  Cape  Colony  on  the  south;  Cape 
Colony  and  British  Bechuanaland  on  the  west  and  Rhode- 
sia on  the  north. 

The  dream  of  the  British,  in  South  Africa  has  been  to 
make  that  map  all  pink. 

The  two  Boer  republics,  the  boundary  line  between 
which  is  the  Vaal  River,  while  under  entirely  different 
forms  of  government,  are  yet  closely  associated  by  reason 
of  the  similarity  of  their  population  and  the  occupation  of 
contiguous  territory.  The  Orange  Free  State  is  the  older 
and  was  founded  by  Boers  who  left  Cape  Colony  in  1836 
and  the  following  years,  but  its  independence  was  not 
proclaimed  until    1854.      It  vests  its  authority  in  a  presi- 

62 


THE  BOERS  AND    THEIR  COUNTRY.  63 

dent  and  Volksraad,  or  popular  assembly,  whose  members 
are  elected  for  a  term  of  four  years,  one-half  being  elected 
every  second  year.  Voters  must  be  white  burghers  by 
birth  or  by  naturalization,  or  owners  of  real  property  of 
not  less  than  $750,  or  lessees  of  real  property  of  an 
annual  rental  of  %  1 80,  and  have  resided  in  the  state  for 
not  less  than  five  years. 

The  Transvaal's  authority  is  vested  in  a  president  and 
a  parliament  (Raad)  of  two  houses.  Members  of  the 
first  house  are  elected  from  and  by  the  first-class  burghers, 
who  comprise  only  the  male  white  residents  in  the  repub- 
lic before  May,  1876,  or  who  took  part  in  the  war  of 
independence  in  1881  or  subsequent  wars,  and  the  children 
of  such  persons  over  the  age  of  16.  This  condition 
deprives  natives  of  other  countries  of  becoming  first-class 
burghers  and  of  participating  in  the  election  of  the  presi- 
dent or  the  house  which  enacts  the  most  important  of  the 
laws  and  has  a  veto  power  upon  all  measures  originating 
in  the  lower  house.  The  second-class  burghers  may 
become  members  of  the  second  house  and  participate  in 
its  election,  the  second  class  comprising  the  naturalized 
male  alien  population  and  their  children  over  the  age  of  16. 

The  area  of  the  Orange  Free  State  is  48,326  square 
miles,  and  its  population  77,716  whites  and  129,787 
natives,  while  the  area  of  the  Transvaal  is  119, 139  square 
miles  and  its  population  is  345,397  whites  and  748,759 
natives. 

Strictly  speaking  there  are  but  two  classes  of  Boers — 
the  Boer  of  the  stad  (city)  and  the  Boer  of  the  veldt 
(field.)  In  both  of  these  classes  are  to  be  found  the  low 
Boer — far  beneath  his  fellows  in  all  that  goes  to  make  the 
characteristics  of  the  race — but  these  latter  are  not  taken 
into  account  in  this  narrative. 


64  THE  BOERS  AND   THEIR  COUNTRY. 

The  Boer  of  the  cities  and  towns  is  quite  apt  to  be  a 
man  of  wealth  and  education.  He  may  speak  three  or 
four  languages,  never  less  than  two.  He  lives  in  a  house 
that  compares  favorably  with  the  residence  of  his  English 
neighbor  and  often  surpasses  it  in  size  and  style  of  con- 
struction. He  has  a  piano  in  his  parlor,  pictures  on  his 
walls,  his  wife  and  children  are  clad  in  the  prevailing 
fashion  and  the  latter  are  quite  apt  to  be  graduates  of 
European  universities.  The  city  Boer  is  a  business  man, 
keen  and  sharp  at  driving  a  bargain  and  compares  favor- 
ably in  every  respect  with  the  best  men  among  the  Out- 
lander  population. 

The  Boer  of  the  veldt,  and  it  is  with  this  individual 
we  have  most  to  do  because  he  is  in  such  a  large  majority, 
is  quite  a  different  person. 

Physically  he  is  a  fine  specimen  of  a  man,  averaging 
over  six  feet  in  height,  a  splendid  horseman,  a  sure  shot 
with  the  rifle,  and  capable  of  enduring  every  hardship  of 
an  out  of  door  life.  He  is  a  mighty  hunter,  a  religious 
enthusiast  and  a  passionate  lover  of  liberty. 

The  nearest  American  type  to  the  Boers  of  the  South 
African  veldt  is  the  ranchman  of  the  western  prairies  and 
tablelands.  In  intellectuality,  in  learning,  and  in  all 
things  that  make  for  progress  and  development  there  can 
be  no  comparison,  for  the  American  ranchman  in  these 
particulars  is  of  a  type  so  far  superior  that  he  cannot  be 
classed  with  the  Boers. 

But  in  the  nature  of  their  calling,  their  mode  of  hving, 
in  their  skill  and  high  courage,  the  American  ranchman 
and  the  -South  African  Boer  furnish  splendid  subjects  for 
comparison. 

While  the  word  Boer  (pronounced  Boo-er)  literally 
means  ' '  farmer, "  the  South  African  Boers  are  not  agri- 


SEARCHING  FOR   CONTRABANDS  OF  WAR   AT   DELAGOA   BAY. 


THE  BOERS  AND   THEIR  COUNTRY.  65 

culturists.  The  infrequency  of  rain  and  the  long  dry 
spells  make  farming  an  impossibility.  The  intense  heat 
of  summer  dries  up  the  smaller  streams  completely  and 
greatly  reduces  the  water  supply  of  the  larger  rivers.  On 
account  of  the  comparatively  level  character  of  the  land 
on  the  veldts  it  is  not  practicable  to  construct  artificial 
waterways,  and  therefore  irrigation  is  out  of  the  question. 
The  only  farming  in  which  the  Boer  engages  is  limited  to 
a  small  strip  of  land  near  his  house  where  by  constant 
care  and  much  labor  he  manages  to  raise  a  few  vegetables 
for  the  subsistence  of  himself  and  family. 

The  Boers  are  ranchmen  and  herdsmen.  They  own 
large  flocks  of  cattle  and  sheep,  and  herds  of  horses. 
They  are  strictly  a  pastoral  people,  and  like  all  people  of 
their  calling  they  love  solitude  and  are  happiest  when 
alone.  Hence  they  build  their  houses  beyond  sight  of  their 
nearest  neighbors  and  as  their  children  grow  up  and  marry, 
the  latter  erect  their  houses  close  by  the  old  homestead. 
Thus  a  patriarchial  system,  devised  from  the  study  of  the 
Bible,*  governs  their  mode  of  living. 

The  houses  are  built  of  stone,  one  story  high,  and 
rarely  consist  of  more  than  five  rooms — a  dining  room, 
three  bedrooms  and  a  kitchen — the  latter  being  built  on 
as  an  annex.  The  dining  room  serves  as  a  parlor  and 
living  room  as  well. 

The  home  life  of  the  Boer  has  been  greatly  misrepre- 
sented. He  has  been  depicted  as  living  in  squalor  and 
sleeping  in  his  clothes.  There  may  be  such  instances 
but  they  are  the  exception  not  the  rule.  The  Boer  is 
devoted  to  his  home.  He  loves  his  wife  and  children 
and  his  conversation  with  neighbors  is  largely  made  up 
by  retailing  little  incidents  of  his  domestic  life.  In  the 
dry  season  when  it  becomes  necessary  to  trek  with  the 


66  THE  BOERS  AND   THEIR  COUNTRY. 

herds  in  search  of  water,  his  family  is  loaded  into  a  trans- 
port wagon  and  goes  with  him.  At  the  end  of  the  dry 
season  the  caravan  treks  back  home  to  take  up  again  its 
simple  duties.  For  the  home  life  of  the  veldt  Boer  is 
severely  plain  and  simple.  He  rises  at  dawn  and  is 
among  his  stock  until  breakfast  when  he  gathers  his 
family  about  him  and  reads  them  passages  from  the 
Bible — usually  the  Old  Testament — and  those  passages 
govern  his  actions  during  the  entire  day.  After  break- 
fast his  time  is  either  given  to  his  herds  or  spent  in 
hunting,  for  the  Boer  will  not  kill  one  of  his  own  animals 
for  food  when  he  can  obtain  game. 

Early  in  the  evening,  after  supper,  the  religious 
exercises  are  gone  through  at  greater  length,  and  the 
family  retire. 

Religion  dominates  the  whole  life  of  the  Boers.  It  is 
his  first  and  last  thought.  He  believes  in  a  personal  God, 
a  literal  heaven  and  hell  and  he  believes  literally  in  his 
Bible.  It  is  the  only  book  he  reads,  and  he  reads  and 
re-reads  it  and  draws  from  it  inspiration  for  his  every  act. 
His  conversation  is  liberally  supplied  with  scriptural  quo- 
tations and  for  every  event  he  can  find  a  scriptural  signifi- 
cance. Once  a  year  he  goes  to  the  capital  to  partake  of 
communion.  For  those  who  live  in  remote  sections  of  the 
republic  it  is  a  long  trip,  in  some  cases  requiring  six 
weeks,  but  it  is  made  with  the  same  devotion  that  the 
pilgrimage  is  made  to  Mecca. 

The  state  church  is  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  and 
so  thoroughly  does  religion  dominate  the  people  that  suc- 
cess in  politics  is  only  possible  on  the  part  of  those  who 
have  become  conspicuous  in  religious  affairs.  Oom  Paul 
is  a  fine  illustration  of  this  fact,  he  being  one  of  the  most 
powerful  preachers  in  the  republic. 


THE  BOERS  AND    THEIR   COUNTRY.  67 

Recurring  to  the  character  of  the  Boers,  I  quote 
from  F.  C.  Selous,  the  famous  hunter  and  explorer. 
Few  men,  if  any,  are  better  quaHfied  to  give  an  unpreju- 
diced opinion  of  the  Boers  than  Mr.  Selous.  He  knows 
Africa  and  its  people  thoroughly,  from  the  colonist  to  the 
native  of  the  jungle.  He  is  held  in  high  esteem  by 
British  and  Boers,  by  white  men  and  black.  At  the  be- 
ginning of  the  war  he  wrote  as  follows: 

"The  greater  part  of  the  personal  charges  made 
against  the  Transvaal  Boers  have,  I  believe,  but  small 
foundation,  since,  taken  as  a  whole,  they  are  an  eminently 
quiet,  sober  and  self-contained  people,  but  little  given  to 
brawling  or  bragging.  I  have  some  right  to  speak  on 
such  a  matter,  as  I  first  went  to  Africa  in  1871,  and  in 
the  following  year  came  in  contact  with  the  Transvaal 
Boers.  During  more  than  twenty  years  I  have  never 
met  with  anything  but  hospitality  and  kindness,  and 
naturally  I  feel  a  great  deal  of  sympathy  for  them. 

"Mr.  Rider  Haggard  has  told  us  that  he  found  it 
impossible  to  go  on  living  in  the  Transvaal  amid  the 
daily  insults  of  victorious  Boers,  and  he  also  tells  us  that 
Boers  look  upon  Englishmen  with  contempt  and  consider 
them  to  be  morally  and  physically  cowards.  I  traveled 
slowly  through  the  Transvaal  by  bullock  wagon  shortly 
after  the  retrocession  of  the  country  in  1881,  and  visited 
all  the  farmhouses  on  my  route.  I  met  with  no  insults 
nor  the  least  incivility  anywhere,  nor  ever  heard  any 
boasting  about  Boer  successes  over  our  troops,  though  at 
that  time  I  understood  and  spoke  the  '  Taal'  (the  Boer 
language)  well. 

"In  coipmon  with  all  who  really  know  the  Boers, 
who  have  lived  imongst  them,  and  not  taken  their  char- 
acter at  second  hand,  I  have  always  been  struck  by  their 


6^  THE  BOERS  AND   THEIR  COUNTRY. 

moderation  in  speaking  of  their  victories  over  our  soldieis. 
As  for  the  Boers  having  a  contempt  for  EngHshmen  as 
individuals,  that  is  nonsense. 

• '  They  hate  the  British  government,  and  knowing 
their  history,  I  for  one  think  they  have  ample  reason  for 
doing  so,  but  the  individual  Englishman  whom  they  know 
they  take  at  his  real  value. 

"One  great  source  of  trouble  has  been  that  the  Out- 
lander  population  of  Johannesburg  is  in  its  sympathies,  its 
mode  of  life,  and  all  its  hopes  and  aspirations  as  wide  as 
the  poles  asunder  from  the  pastoral  Boers,  with  whom 
it  never  mixes,  and  whom  it  therefore  does  not  under- 
stand. " 

The  veldt  Boer  is  not  the  handsomest  man  in  the 
world,  and  many  of  his  detractors  have  pictured  him  as 
lazy,  ill-kempt  and  dirty.  In  his  defense  it  might  be 
said  that  the  generous  South  African  sun  is  not  conducive 
to  activity;  and  in  a  country  where  water  is  a  scarce  com- 
modity, and  where  there  are  no  barber  shops,  men  are 
less  careful  of  their  toilet  than  they  should  be.  It  is  true 
the  Boer  is  not  a  cleanly  man,  but  he  is  much  cleanlier 
than  he  has  been  pictured. 

His  clothing  is  coarse  and  cheap.  It  is  made  up  by 
his  "vrcuw"  with  little  regard  to  fit.  He  is  satisfied  if  it 
covers  him  and  stays  on  him.  The  women,  however, 
take  more  pride  in  their  personal  appearance,  especially 
at  religious  worship;  their  particular  weakness  being  volu- 
minous skirts.  Poultney  Bigelow  tells  a  story  which 
illustrates  the  amplitude  of  the  costume  as  well  as  the 
quick  wit  of  the  women  of  the  Transvaal. 

Not  long  after  the  "Great  Trek"  the  well-known  Boer 
leader  Wessels,  one  of  whose  grandsons  is  President 
Steyn  of  the  Orange  Free  State,  went  down  to  Coles- 


THE  BOERS  AND   THEIR  COUNTRY.    ■         69 

burg  with  his  wife  to  sell  produce,  traveling  in  the  usual 
tented  wagon,  drawn  by  sixteen  oxen.  Having  sold  their 
load  they  bought  gunpowder  with  the  proceeds  and 
started  homeward.  At  this  particular  time,  on  account 
cf  native  wars,  the  importation  of  gunpowder  into  the 
Free  State  had  been  forbidden  by  the  British  govern- 
ment. 

While  the  Wessels*  party  were  "  outspanned" — that  is 
to  say,  had  turned  their  cattle  out  to  graze  for  the  noon- 
day meal — they  noticed  a  party  of  Cape  police  riding  up. 
With  admirable  presence  of  mind  the  wife  took  down 
from  the  wagon  all  the  bags  of  gunpowder  and  piled 
them  as  close  to  the  camp  fire  as  possible  without  produc- 
ing an  explosion.  Then  the  lady  calmly  seated  herself 
on  top  of  the  gunpowder  and  spread  her  skirts.  "  From 
what  I  have  seen  of  skirts  in  the  Transvaal,"  says  Mr. 
Bigelow,  "I  can  readily  believe  that  good  Mrs.  Wessels 
was  able  to  conceal  from  view  on  this  occasion  gun- 
powder enough  to  blow  up  the  castle  of  Heidelberg." 
Then  she  stirred  the  fire  and  'welcomed  the  mounted 
police  to  the  chops  she  was  assiduously  stirring  on  her 
gridiron. 

The  visitors,  evidently  under  urgent  orders,  searched 
the  big  wagon  thoroughly,  satisfied  themselves  that  this 
time  at  least  no  gunpowder  had  been  smuggled,  and  thus, 
baffled,  rode  away  over  the  veldt.  The  old  lady  whose 
resource  was  so  successful  was  in  the  habit  of  saying  to 
her  sons:  "You  are  free  men;  see  to  it  that  you  remain 
•free. " 

The  language  of  the  Boers  in  South  Africa  is  gram- 
matically the  language  of  the  people  of  Holland.  They 
speak  Dutch  as  their  forefathers  in  Holland  spoke  it  and 
speak  it  now.     They  are  called  Boers,  because  that  is  a 


70         ■     THE  BOERS  AND    THEIR   COUNTRY. 

Dutch  word,  which  describes  them.  A  knowledge  of 
Dutch  would  supply  an  explanation  of  the  odd-looking 
words  that  were  used  in  the  news  reports  from  the 
republic.  It  would  also  enable  one  to  pronounce  these 
words  as  they  should  be  enunciated. 

Dutch  diphthongs  are  not  given  the  same  sounds  as 
their  equivalents  in  English.  The  double  "o"  for  instance, 
in  Dutch  has  the  same  sound  as  "o"  in  Rome,  while  the 
diphthong  "  oe"  is  pronounced  by  the  Dutch  as  we  pro- 
nounce '  'oo"  in  boot.  The  English  pronunciation  of  these 
two  diphthongs  is  the  reverse  of  that  given  them  by 
those  who  speak  Dutch.  And  "ou"  has  the  sound  of 
"ow"  in  owl.  The  sound  of  "ui"  is  nearly  like  that  of  the 
English  "oy"in  boy.  The  Dutch  "aa"is  the  same  as 
the  English  "a"  in  war.  As  there  is  no  "y"  in  Dutch  its 
place  is  taken  by  "ij,"  which  is  sounded  as  "  y"  in  defy. 

If  one,  therefore,  would  pronounce  ' '  Oom  Paul " 
properly,  he  would  say  it  as  if  it  were  spelled  ' '  Ome 
Powl. "  The  family  name  of  General  Joubert  would,  for 
the  same  reason,  be  pronounced  as  if  it  were  spelled  '  'Yow- 
bert."  The  word  Boer  is  pronounced  by  the  Afrikander 
as  if  it  were  of  two  syllables;  the  first  long  and  the 
second  short,  thus :  "Boo-er."  The  plural  is  not  "Boers." 
It  is  "Boeren, "  and  it  is  pronounced  "Bo-ereh, "  because 
the  final  "n"  is  slurred. 

Here  are  a  few  Dutch  words  most  frequently  met  with 
in  print  in  connection  with  affairs  of  the  Transvaal,  and 
their  pronunciation  and  meaning. 


Bloemfontein  (bloom-fon-tine) 

Boer  (boo-er) 

Buitenlander  (boy-ten-lont-er) 
Burgher  (buhr-ker)      .     .     .     . 
Burger regt  (buhr-ker-rekt) 


Flower-fountain. 

Farmer. 

Foreigner. 

Citizen. 

Citizenship. 


THE  BOERS  AND   THEIR   COUNTRY,  71 

Burgerwacht  (buhr-ker-vokt)    .     .     .  Citizen  soldiery. 

Grondwet  (grunt-vet) Fundamental  law  of  Feb- 
ruary 13,  1858. 

Oom  (ome) Uncle. 

Raad  (rahd) Senate. 

Raadsheer  (rahds-hare) Senator. 

Raadhuis  (rahd-hoys) Senate  house. 

Rand  (rahnt) Margin;  edge. 

Staat  (staht) State. 

StaaJ:kunde  (staht-kuhn-de)  Politics. 

Staatsraad  (stahts-rahd) Council  of  state. 

Stad  (stot) City. 

Stemmer  (stemmer) Voter;  elector.* 

Transvaal  (trans-fahl) Circular;  valley. 

Trek  (treck) Draught;  journey. 

Trekken  (trecken) To  draw ;  to  travel. 

Trekpaard  (treck-pahrd)        ....  Draught-horse. 

Uit  (oyt) Out;  out  of. 

Uitlander  (oyt-lont-er) Foreigner. 

Vaal  (fahl) Valley. 

Vaderlandsliefde  (fah-ter-lonls-leef-te)  Love   of    one's    country; 

patriotism. 

Veldt  (felt) Field;  open  lands. 

Veldheer  (felt-hare) General  commandant. 

Veldwachter  (felt-vock-ter)  Rural  guard. 

Volksraad  (f  ulks-rahd)     .     .  '  Lower  house  of  Congress. 

Voorregt  (fore-rekt) Franchise;  privilege. 

Vreemdeling  (frame-de-ling)    .  Stranger. 

Witwatersrand  (vit-vot-ters-ront)  Margin  of  the  white  water. 

Pretoria,  the  capital  of  the  South  African  Republic,  is 
named  in  honor  of  its  first  President,  Pretorius,  who  led 
the  Dutch  in  the  great  trek,  or  journey,  out  of  Cape  Col- 
ony sixty  years  ago,  and  into  the  Transvaal,  to  escape  the 
dominion  of  England.  Johannesburg  is  easily  translated 
into  English  as  Johnstown.  The  term  of  "Afrikander" 
is  used  to  designate  the  Dutch  from  the  other  white  peo- 
ple of  South  Africa. 


12  THE  BOERS  AND   THEIR   COUNTRY. 

In  the  Transvaal  three  regions  are  recognized — the 
Bush  Veldt  in  the  north,  the  Baken  (or  Terraced)  Veldt, 
lying  east  of  the  Drakenberg  mountains,  and  the  Hooge 
(or  High)  Veldt,  forming  the  major  part  of  the  republic. 
From  one  side  to  the  other  the  principal  outlines  of  the 
scenery  are  the  same  ;  broad,  undulating  plains,  rising 
sometimes  into  hills,  now  low  and  rounded,  now  craggy, 
but  of  no  great  elevation — the  kopjes — the  sandstone 
rock  of  which  sometimes  assumes  strange  forms.  These 
plains  are  furrowed  here  and  there  by  valleys,  in  many  of 
which  the  streams  run  dry  in  the  winter  season.  They 
flow  on  the  one  side  to  the  Limpopo,  on  the  other  to  the 
Vaal  River.  Pretoria  itself  stands  in  a  valley  commanded 
by  low  hills,  crowned  with  batteries,  behind  which  rise 
some  of  greater  elevation.  The  stream  from  the  cap- 
ital flows  north,  so  that  the  watershed  between  the 
Limpopo  and  the  Vaal  is  a  comparatively  unimpor- 
tant rocky  region — the  Witwatersrand,  near  Johannes- 
burg. 

In  scenery  the  Orange  Free  State  is  not  very  different 
from  the  Transvaal — an  upland  plateau,  perhaps  rather 
less  interrupted,  a  little  better  watered,  and  much  of  it 
from  4,000  to  5,000  feet  above  sea  level.  Thus,  as  has 
been  well  remarked,  a  journey  of  2,000  miles  in  western 
Europe  would  afford  a  greater  variety  of  scenery  than 
twice  that  distance  in  the  Transvaal;  but  the  clear  air 
produces  fine  effects  of  color. 

The  climate  of  the  High  Veldt  and  the  region  south  of 
the  Vaal  River  in  most  places  is  very  healthy!  Though 
these  -correspond  roughly  in  latitude  with  Lower  Egypt, 
the  heat  of  summer  is  mitigated  by  their  much  greater 
elevation,  and  the  winters  are  rather  cold,  the  winds  being 
very  keen  and  snow  falling  on  the  slopes  of  the  Draken- 


The  BOERS  AND   THEIR  COUNTRY.  75 

berg.  The  air  for  most  of  the  year  is  clear  and  bracing, 
but  the  summers  are  hot — at  Pretoria  the  January  tem- 
perature being  ninety  degrees,  or  even  ninety-five  de- 
grees; the  winter,  forty  degrees.  But  the  summer  is  also 
the  rainy,  season ;  storms,  with  thunder  and  hail,  are  fre- 
quently severe;  floods  occasionally  occur,  as  at  Pretoria 
in  January,  1891;  and  the  rains  which  begin  in  October 
last  intermittently  till  April,  almost  the  whole  fall  taking 
place  during  these  months.  The  quantity  varies.  It 
amounts  to  about  thirty  inches  a  year  at  Pretoria,  increases 
toward  the  east,  reaching  a  maximum  in  the  mountain 
region,  and  decreases  westward,  in  the  direction  of  the 
Great  Kaahari  Desert — a  barren  and  dry  land — so  that  on 
the  frontier  it  is  about  twelve  inches.  Such  a  climate, 
obviously,  is  not  favorable  to  the  growth  of  timber,  except 
in  the  lowlands  along  the  rivers.  Thus,  in  both  states, 
anything  bigger  than  bushes  is  not  often  seen  on  the 
veldt;  but  this  frequently  supports  an  abundant  herbage. 
This  in  the  winter  becomes  dry  and  brown.  But  the 
fresh  blades  spring  up  with  the  first  rains. 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  discovery  of  minerals,  especially 
gold,  in  the  Witwatersrand,  around  Johannesburg,  the 
Transvaal,  no  doubt,  would  have  remained  a  pastoral 
country,  like  many  inland  parts  of  Australia.  It  has  to  be 
farmed  very  much  in  the  same  way.  Large  games  of  many 
kinds  and  antelopes  were  once  abundant,  but  they  are  so 
no  longer.  As  the  pasturage  is  scanty  for  half  a  year, 
the  farms  are  necessarily  large,  for  the  stock  sometimes 
must  be  driven  to  long  distances  in  search  of  fodder.  The 
Veldt  is  essentially  a  pastoral  district,  though  where  irri- 
gation is  possible  garden  and  other  produce  may  be  readily 
obtained.  But  the  greater  part  is  not  good  for  fruit,  or 
even  corn,  though  in  one  district  the  latter  does  well,  and 


76  THE  BOERS  AND   THEIR  COUNTRY. 

in  another  fair  tobacco  can  be  grown.  Thus  both  states 
are  thinly  peopled,  the  number  amounting  in  the  Trans- 
vaal to  an  average  of  seven  to  the  square  mile,  and  of 
only  four  in  the  Orange  Free  State — the  latter  figure,  as 
the  influx  of  miners  has  been  much  smaller,  giving  a 
better  idea  of  the  general  distribution.  Thus,  neither 
country,  once  entered,  will  offer  any  serious  obstacle  to 
the  movement  of  troops.  There  may  sometimes  be  diffi- 
culties about  water,  and  as  the  cattle  will  probably  be 
driven  away,  the  commissariat  department  will  not  be 
readily  replenished  from  the  surrounding  district.  On 
certain  routes  the  kopjes  may  shelter  "  snipers, "  but  other- 
wise the  physical  features  of  the  country  should  not  present 
any  serious  difficulties  to  an  army  advancing  in  force, 
especially  with  light  artillery. 

Mr.  W.  H.  Forbes-Townsend,  an  Englishman,  fur- 
nishes a  very  concise  statement  concerning  the  natural 
defenses  of  the  Transvaal  and  Orange  Free  State : 

"I  spent  eight  months  there  just  prior  to  Jameson's 
famous  raid,  and  became  thoroughly  familiar  with  the 
country  and  its  inhabitahts,  although  I  cannot  say  I  ever 
became  intimate  with  any  of  them,  as  the  Boers  are  abso- 
lutely the  most  uncommunicative  people  I  have  ever  seen. 
I  spent  a  large  part  of  my  time  in  Johannesburg,  which 
is  a  typical  mining  town,  although  it  has  been  largely 
built  up  and  has  some  very  handsome  buildings. 

' '  The  Boers  themselves  are  very  dull  mentally,  non- 
progressive and  phlegmatic;  this  last,  however,  tells  in 
their  favor  in  battle,  as  they  do  not  become  in  the  least 
excited  when  under  fire.  It  is  a  mistake  to  think  that 
they  have  lost  their  ability  as  shots,  for  they  practice 
marksmanship  continually,  and  are  the  most  expert  shots 
I  have   ever  seen.     I  myself  constantly  saw  the    small 


THE  BOERS  AND   THEIR   COUNTRY.  77 

Boer  boys  practicing  shooting  on  the  Veldt,  and  some  of 
them  couldn't  have  been  over  six  years  old. 

' '  I  also  trekked  (pronounced  treeked)  up  to  the 
Limpopo  River,  which  is  the  boundary  line  between  the 
Transvaal  and  Matabeleland,  for  the  shooting,  which  is 
the  finest  for  both  bird  and  beast  I  have  ever  had.  I  got 
a  pretty  good  idea  of  the  lay  of  the  country,  and  it  has 
the  most  perfect  natural  defenses  in  the  world.  On  the 
Natal  border  the  few  passes  there  are  so  narrow  and  of 
such  a  character  that  forty  men  can  with  ease  hold  them- 
selves against  a  thousand,  and  the  same  is  true  of  all  their 
other  frontiers.  Then  the  country  from  its  nature  affords 
natural  second  lines  of  defense,  for  it  is  made  up  of  suc- 
cessive ranges  of  mountains,  with  level  plains,  or  veldts, 
between,  and  all  the  mountains  can  only  be  crossed  by 
passes  of  so  difficult  a  nature  as  to  render  it  possible  for 
one  man  to  stand  off  a  large  opposing  force." 

The  flag  of  the  Transvaal  is  a  very  simple  affair.  It 
consists  of  one  broad  vertical  bar  of  green  next  the  flag 
pole,  and  three  horizontal  bars  respectively  red,  white 
and  blue,  the  red  being  at  the  top.  Take,  for  instance, 
the  simple  red,  white  and  blue  flag  of  Holland  and 
sew  a  vertical  bar  of  green  on  the  flagstaff  end  of  it. 
That  is  all. 

The  Boers  speak  of  their  flag  as  the  ' 'vierkleur, "  the 
four  color,  just  as  the  French  call  their  flag  the  '  'tricolor. " 
The  Orange  Free  State  flag  is  a  simple  rectangle  of  vivid 
orange. 

The  motto  of  the  South  African  Republic,  the  formal 
name  of  the  Transvaal,  is  "Ken  Draght  Maakt  Magt," 
which  means,   "  In  Union  there  is  Might." 

The  dominant  feature  of  their  coat  of  arms  is  a  vul- 
ture, on  the  left   hand   quarter  a  lion  couchant,   on  the 


78  THE  BOERS  AND   THEIR  COUNTRY. 

right  an  armed  Boer  with  a  rifle,  a  Boer  ox  wagon  filling 
the  remaining  half  of  the  picture,  in  the  center  of  which 
is  an  anchor,  typifying  the  Cape  Colonial  origin  of  the 
Transvaalers.  A  long  time  ago  a  die  was  made  in  Hol- 
land for  a  Transvaal  government  official,  but  was  rejected 
because  the  ox  wagon  was  depicted  with  a  pair  of  shafts 
instead  of  a  single  pole  or  "disselboom." 

An  orange  tree  in  full  fruit  is  the  most  distinctive  feature 
of  the  arms  of  the  Orange  Free  State.  Beneath  the  tree 
are  on  one  side  a  lion  and  on  the  other  a  number  of 
oxen.  An  ox  wagon  similar  to  that  on  the  Transvaal 
arms  and  three  suspended  horns  complete  the  whole. 

To  a  fellow  correspondent  who  received  permission 
from  General  Joubert  to  accompany  the  Boer  forces  at 
the  outbreak  of  the  war,  I  am  indebted  for  the  follow- 
ing description  of  a  Boer  laager  or  camp: 

"  Having  secured  my  permission  from  the  General,  I 
rode  over  to  the  Pretoria  laager,  about  a  mile  away, 
which  I  intended  to  make  my  headquarters,  as  I  knew 
I  should  meet  with  plenty  of  acquaintances  in  it.  I  was 
most  hospitably  received,  and,  till  I  could  make  arrange- 
ments for  myself,  some  friends  put  a  share  of  their  tent 
and  a  place  at  their  mess  at  my  disposal.  There  were 
some  1, 800  men,  besides  innumerable  horses,  mules  and 
oxen  in  the  Pretoria  camp,  which  had  just  begun  to  get 
more  or  less  into  order.  The  first  day  or  two  after 
arrival  the  confusion  had  been  very  great.  There  were 
no  tents  and  no  provisions  or  forage.  Some  things  had 
been  forgotten  by  the  field  cornet,  others  were  delayed 
by  the  general  block  of  all  traffic  on  the  Netherlands 
line.  The  real  Boers  were  not  so  badly  off.  They  are 
accustomed  to  camping  out,  and  besides  most  of  them 
had  come  up  before  with    their   own   wagons   and   pro- 


THE  BOERS  AND   THEIR  COUNTRY.  7^ 

visions.  But  the  well-nurtured  lawyers  and  shopkeepers 
of  Pretoria,  who  relied  on  the  commissariat  and  the  rail- 
way, were  in  a  sorry  plight,  and  spent  their  first  days  in 
the  field  very  uncomfortably,  with  but  little  to  eat  or 
drink,  and  with  no  shelter  at  night  against  the  cold  and 
the  rain.  By  the  time  I  came  down,  however,  things 
were  settling  down.  Many  people  on  arriving  had  tele- 
graphed home  for  tents,  provisions  and  servants,  and 
these  various  comforts  were  now  coming  in,  together  with 
the  government  stores. 

*  'The  arrangements  of  a  Boer  laager  are  very  different 
from  those  of  an  English  military  camp.  The  chief  dif- 
ference lies  in  the  fact  that  among  the  Boers  every  man 
is  supposed,  a$  far'  as  possible,  to  look  after  his  own 
affairs,  to  bring  his  own  wagon  and  horses,  and,  to 
some  extent,  his  own  provisions.  The  government  pro- 
vides tents,  blankets,  mackintoshes,  forage  and  provisions 
for  distribution  to  those  who  want  any  of  these  things, 
but  no  one  is  obliged  to  take  them.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  is  no  limit  to  what  any  individual  may  choose  to 
bring  for  himself.  There  are  no  fixed  regulations  as  to 
messes,  but  friends  club  together  as  they  please  and 
have  meals  when  they  like.  There  were  many  small 
parties  in  the  Pretoria  laager  who  had  managed  to  make 
themselves  most  comfortable,  who  had  spare  tents, 
abundance  of  tinned  and  fresh  provisions  sent  from  home, 
and  Kaffir  servants  to  cook  their  food  and  mind  their 
horses,  and  who  consequently  had  very  little  to  do  the 
whole  day  long,  besides  eating,  talking  and  sleeping, 
except  perhaps  to  go  out  for  a  ride.  There  were  no  drills 
or  field  exercises,  except  a  parade  on  the  President's 
birthday,  and  even  at  this  attendance  was  by  no  means 
obligatory.     Guards,  however,  were  put  round  the  camp 


8o  THE  BOERS  AND    THEIR   COUNTRY. 

regularly  every  night,  and  from  each  of  the  camps  a 
detachment  of  twenty  or  thirty  horsemen  was  sent  every 
twelve  hours  to  relieve  the  patrols  stationed  along  the 
Natal  frontier.  There  was  very  little  discipline  or  method 
in  the  camp,  but  plenty  of  willingness  and  a  natural 
instinct  for  doing  the  right  thing,  which  served  very  well 
in  their  place.  After  I  had  been  there  two  or  three 
days  the  whole  camp  was  broken  up  and  shifted  a  couple 
of  miles  to  bring  it  nearer  better  drinking  water  and  to 
find  new  grass  for  the  horses.  The  whole  operation 
went  off  perfectly  smooth  without  a  single  order  being 
given,  except  the  order  that  the  camp  was  to  be  moved. 
Every  man  looked  after  his  own  affairs,  and  in  three  or 
four  hours  from  the  time  the  order  to  break  up  was 
given  the  new  camp  was  complete  and  cooking  was 
going  on  busily. 

"In  action  the  operations  of  a  Boer  commando  are 
directed  by  the  commandant  and  the  field  cornet  or  field 
cornets;  but  in  camp  the  chief  work  devolves  upon  the 
corporals,  of  whom  there  were  perhaps  half  a  dozen  in 
our  laager.  The  corporal  looks  after  the  stores,  dis- 
tributes forage,  rations  and  ammunition,  supervises  the 
removal  of  baggage,  the  erection  of  tents,  the  drawing 
up  of  the  wagons  on  the  sides  of  the  laager,  the  tethering 
of  the  horses — in  fact,  most  of  the  operations  of  camp 
life.  He  has  also  disciplinary  power  to  the  extent  of 
imposing  small  fines  or  strokes  with  a  stirrup  leather 
for  contravention  of  his  orders,  though  the  power  is  not 
often  exercised. 

"The   Pretoria  laager  was  specially  interesting  owing 

to  its  composition.      Only  half  of   it  consisted  of  Boers 

•properly  so-called,   the  farmers  of  the   Pretoria  district; 

the  other  half  was  composed  of  the  citizens  of  Pretoria 


THE  BOERS  AND   THEIR  COUNTRY.  8i 

itself  —  lawyers,  clerks,  shopkeepers,  and  government 
officials.  Between  the  two  there  was  a  great  difference. 
The  townsmen  of  Pretoria  are  in  most  ways  very  much 
more  like  English  than  Dutch  in  their  life,  their  thoughts, 
and  not  least,  their  language.  Many,  too,  among  the 
Pretorians  in  the  camp  were  English-born  burghers  who 
had  been  commandeered  and  could  not  well  refuse,  and 
still  more  were  originally  from  Cape  Colony.  The  ordin- 
ary language  of^conversation  in  the  town-half  of  the  camp 
was  English,  though  efforts  were  made  by  many  to  keep 
up  Dutch  for  patriotism's  sake,  especially  when  some  of 
the  real  Boers  were  near.  At  night,  while  the  Boers 
chanted  interminable  psalms  in  Dutch,  the  Pretorians 
whiled  away  the  time  by  singing  comic  or  sentimental 
songs  in  English.  Many  of  the  younger  men  among  the 
Pretorians  are  fine  athletic  fellows  and  reputed  to  be  good 
shots,  but  the  real  strength  of  the  Transvaal  lies  not  in 
them  or  in  any  of^  the  miscellaneous  Hollander  and  Ger- 
man or  Irish  volunteer  corps,  but  in  the  old  back-country 
Boers  the  men  who  took  part  in  the  rising  of  1881  and 
who  learnt  their  shooting  in  the  days  when  game  was 
plentiful  and  cartridges  too  expensive  to  be  lightly  wasted. 
The  State  Artillery  detachment  consists  of  16 
Krupp  guns  of  the  latest  pattern  and  some  300  men. 
The  Boers  have  taken  some  trouble  with  their  artillery 
since  the  Jameson  raid.  The  artillerymen  are  certainly  a 
fine  body  of  men  and  excellent  riders.  The  older  Boers 
look  upon  artillery,  as  a  dangerous  innovation. " 

In  the  war  of  1879-80  the  Boers  displayed  deadly 
accuracy  with  the  rifle,  but  their  weapon  then  was  very 
different  from  the  arm  they  use  at  present.  The  rifle  of 
twenty  years  ago  was  built  on  lines  of  the  British  Martini. 
It  was  a  hammerless  arm  of  about  nine  pounds  weight, 


82  THE  BOERS  AND   THEIR  COUNTRY, 

with  a  30- inch  half  octagonal  barrel  and  a  shotgun  butt 
stock.  The  calibre  was  .45,  with  a  bullet  weighing  from. 
405  to  450  grains.  The  powder  charge  was  90  grains  in 
a  brass  drawn  cartridge  case.  The  rifle  was  sighted  up 
to  2,000  yards.  Besides  the  usual  stationary  sight  it  had 
a  reversible  front — that  is,  a  sight  capable  of  being  used 
as  an  ordinary  front  sight,  and,  by  a  single  motion,  it  was 
changed  into  a  fine  pinhead  sight  covered  with  a  ring  to 
prevent  it  from  being  knocked  off.  On  aft  occasion,  when 
particularly  fine  shooting  was  demanded,  this  front  globe 
was  further  covered  with  a  thimble-shaped  hood,  shading 
it  perfectly.  The  usual  standing  rear  or  fixed  sights  were 
on  the  barrel,  while  on  the  gun's  grip  was  a  turndown 
peep  that  was  regulated  by  a  side  screw  to  an  elevation  of 
2,000  yards.  The  peep  and  globe  were  never  used  under 
700  or  800  yards. 

"  I  was  very  much  interested  in  the  Boer  riflerhen  and 
their  weapons, "  said  Archibald  Forbes-,  who  was  with  Sir 
Evelyn  Wood's  column  in  South  Africa  in  1879-80. 
"They  are  marvelous  rifle  shots.  They  shoot  their 
antelope  and  other  game  from  the  saddle,  not  apparently 
caring  to  get  nearer  to  their  quarry  than  600  or  700  yards. 
Then  they  understand  the  currents  of  air,  their  effect 
upon  the  drift  of  a  bullet,  and  can  judge  distance  as 
accurately  as  it  could  be  measured  by  a  skilled  engineer. 
They  can  hit  an  officer  as  far  as  they  can  discern  his 
insignia  of  rank.  Sir  George  W.  Colley,  the  commander 
in  South  Africa,  was  killed  at  a  distance  of  1,400  yards 
at  Majuba  Hill.  We  lost  terribly  in  officers  at  the  fight 
mentioned  and  also  at  Laing's  Nek  and  Rorkes'  Drift 
from  the  deadly  rifles  of  the  sharpshooting  Boers." 

The  Boer  weapon  of  the  present  is  the  sporting  model 
of   the    Mannlicher,   a  Qerman   arm,   perhaps   the    rnost 


ALONG   THE    LINE   AT   l.,L:.\. 


WAR   BALLOON. 


THE  BOERS  AND   THEIR  COUNTRY.  83 

powerful  weapon  of  its  calibre  and  weight  in  the  world. 
The  military  Mannlicher  is  used  in  the  armies  of  Austria, 
Holland,  Greece,  Brazil,  Chili,  Peru  and  Roumania.  The 
ideal  IMannlicher  is  a  sporting  rifle  known  as  the  Haenel 
model.  It  is  a  beautifully  finished  arm,  weighing  about 
eight  pounds,  and  costing  in  South  Africa  200  German 
marks.  The  rifle  barrel  is  30  inches  long,  the  carbine  24. 
It  has  a  pistol  grip  and  sling  straps,  and  is  hair  triggered. 
Its  calibre  is  30.  This  rifle  has  an  extreme  range  of 
4, 500  yards  and  a  killing  range  of  4,000.  At  that  distance 
the  bullet  will  go  through  two  inches  of  solid  ash,  and 
nearly  three  inches  of  pine,  quite  enough  force  to  kill,  if 
the  bullet  struck  a  vital  part.  At  20  yards  it  will  shoot 
through  50  inches  of  pine.  The  bullet  for  war  is  full 
mantled,  with  a  fine  outer  skin  of  copper  or  nickel.  That 
for  game  shooting  is  only  half  mantled,  leaving  the  lead 
point  exposed  so  that  it  opens  back  or  mushrooms  when 
it  strikes.  For  deer,  elk  and  bears  there  can  be  no  better 
arm.  Though  the  bullet  makes  but  a  sm^l  orifice  where 
it  enters,  the  expansion  causes  it  to  tear  a  hole  as  large  as 
a  man's  finger  when  it  makes  its  exit.  Traveling  at  the 
rate  of  2,000  feet  a  second,  the  force  of  this  bullet's  blow 
is  tremendous.  There  has  been  much  discussion  over 
the  dum-dum  bullet.  It  is  a  soft-pointed  missile,  but 
by  no  means  so  deadly  or  destructive  as  is  this  Haenel- 
Mannlicher  bullet  which  the  Boers  are  using.  If  it  strikes 
at  close  range,  of  1,000  yards  or  under,  and  does  not 
flatten,  the  Mannlicher  bores  a  hole  through  a  bone  with- 
out splintering.  But  when  it  upsets  the  shock  is  terrible. 
The  bullet  literally  smashes  the  flesh  and  bone  into  frag- 
ments. It  has  been  charged  that  the  Boers  used  the 
soft-pointed  bullet  in  their  deadly  Haenel-Mannlichers. 


CHAPTER  V. 
MAJUBA  HILL  AND  THE  JAMESON  RAID. 

Great  Britain's  Last  Two  Attempts  to  Annex  the  Transvaal  Result  in  Disas- 
trous Defeats — Death  of  Sir  George  Colley. 

IHRICE  has  Great  Britain  annexed  the  land  of 
*  the  Boers.  The  first  annexation  was  in  1 848, 
and  included  the  land  occupied  by  the  Boers 
between  the  Vaal  and  Orange  Rivers.  This 
was  followed  by  the  seizure  of  the  territory  between  the 
Vaal  and  the  Upper  Caledon.  The  Boers  rebelled  and 
were  driven  into  the  wilderness  beyond  the  Vaal. 

Great  Britain's  second  attempt  to  wrest  the  land  of 

the   Boers   from  its  rightful  owners  began. in   1877   and 

culminated  in  the  famous  battle  of  Majuba  Hill,  whereby 

rthe  Boers  regafined  their  independence.     The  history  of  the 

great'battle  and  the  events  which  led  to  it  are  as  follows; 

In  May,  1864,  the  Boers,  who  previously  had  organ- 
ized governments  of  four  separate  republics,  decided  to 
unite  in -one  great  Boer  Republic.  Marthinus  Wessels 
•Pretorius — who  has  been  called  the  George  Washington 
of  the  Boer  rtation — was  elected  president  and  S.  J.  P. 
Kruger  commandant  general  of  the  army. 

Shortly  thereafter  the  Barampola  tribe  of  natives, 
incited  by  Europeans,  rebelled.  This  was  followed  by 
outbreaks  on  the  part  of  other  natives.  Through  British 
interference  the  trouble  was  submitted  to  arbitration  and 
the  British  governor  of  Natal  awarded  the  rebellious  tribes 


^' 


MAJUBA   HILL  AND    THE  JAMESON  RAID.       85 

their  independence  with  certain  lands  claimed  by  the 
Boers.  As  a  result  Pretorius  was  blamed  by  his  burghers 
and  compelled  to  resign.  His  successor  was  Thomas 
Francois  Burgers,  a  clergyman  and  lawyer,  but  Burgers 
had  no  better  success  with  the  natives  than  had  his  prede- 
cessor. The  big  Bapedi  tribe  rebelled  and  gained  a 
decided  victory.  The  levying  of  heavy  war  taxes  led  to 
a  division  of  opinion  among  the  Boers  as  to  whether  or 
not  the  war  should  be  continued,  and  this  feeling  became 
so  intensified  that  civil  war  was  threatened/ 

At  this  juncture  Sir  Theophilus  Shepstone  of  Natal 
was  sent  as  a  special  commissioner  by  Great  Britain  to 
the  scene  of  the  trouble.  Against  the  protest  of  a  large 
majority  of  the  Boers  he  declared  the  republic  to  be  a 
possession  of  the  British  Empire.  This  was  on  April  12, 
1877.  President  Burgers  protested  but  was  removed  from 
office  and  Shepstone  became  the  head  of  the  government 
he  himself  had  established.  It  was  Shepstone  whb  gave 
the  name  of  "  Transvaal "  to  the  country.  ,  Paul  Kruger 
and  General  Pietrius  Joubert  were  sent  to  England  to  pro- 
test against  annexation.  They  found  many  sym- 
pathizers, and  a  huge  mass  meeting  was  held  in 
London  which  declared  against  the  action  of  Shep- 
stone and  remonstrated  against  annexation.  But 
England  refused  to  recede  from  her  position^  giving 
as  a  reason  for  annexation  that  the  projected  Boer  rail- 
road to  Delagoa  B^y  (a  project  v  started  by  President 
Burgers  with  capital  obtained  from  Holland)  threatened 
to  divert  Transvaal  trade  from  English  hands. ;  There 
was  a  financial  as  well  as  a  political  crisis  in  the  affairs  of 
the  Transvaal  at  the  time,  and  Germany  was  making 
overtures  to  furnish  the  money  wherewith  to  build  the 
proposed  road,  and  thereby  control  it. 


36       MAJUBA   HILL  AND   THE  JAMESON  RAID. 

In  1879  Sir  OwenLanyon  was  appointed  administrator 
of  the  Transvaal  to  succeed  Sir  Theophilus  Shepstone. 
He  had  none  of  Shepstone's  tact  and  was  intensely  anti- 
Boer  in  feeling.  The  Boers  were  keenly  disappointed  by 
the  failure  of  Kruger  and  Joubert  to  secure  a  recession  of 
their  country  and  were  ripe  for  armed  rebellion.  It  would 
have  begun  earlier  than  it  did  but  for  the  fact  that 
Mr.  Gladstone  had  just  been  elected  premier  of  the 
English  government,  and  the  Boers  had  great  faith  that 
he  would  do  them  justice,  particularly  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  he  had  previously  expressed  himself  in  their 
favor.  But  Gladstone  failed  to  give  the  expected  relief, 
and  then  the  Boers  resolved  to  strike  the  blow  for  inde- 
pendence. 

At  a  meeting  held  where  Krugersdorp  now  stands  the 
Boers  elected  S.  J.  P.  Kruger,  M.  W.  Pretorius  and 
Pietrius  J.  Joubert  a  triumvirate  to  conduct  the  affairs  of 
the  Transvaal  government. 

The  war  began  in  the  winter  of  1880-81. 

A  short,  sharp,  and  for  Great  Britain,  a  most 
inglorious  campaign,  it  put  the  Boer  before  the  world  as  a 
fighting  man  in  a  light  totally  different  to  that  in  which  he 
had  previously  been  regarded.  Sir  Owen  Lanyon,  the 
British  administrator  of  the  Transvaal,  had  the  greatest 
contempt  for  the  Boers,  regarding  them  as  "mortal 
cowards,'"  and  he  wrote  home  that  the  agitation  against 
British  rule,  which  all  through  1879-80  had  been  carried 
on  by  Kruger,  Pretorius  and  Joubert,  would  come  to 
nothing.  He  was  destined  to  be  most  disagreeably  unde- 
ceived. On  December  16,  1880,  several  thousand  Boers 
met  near  Heidelberg,  a  Transvaal  station  now  some  43 
miles  southeast  of  Johannesburg,  which  latter  city  had 
not  then   been  founded,   declared  their  independence  of 


MAJUBA   HILL  AND   THE  JAMESON  RAID.        87 

Great  Britain,    and    hoisted  the   Vierkleur,    as   the  red, 
green,  blue  and  white  flag  of  the  repubhc  is  termed. 

A  manifesto  was  sent  to  Sir  Owen  Lanyon  setting 
forth  the  contentions  of  the  Boers,  but  the  messengers 
were  received  with  curses. 

The  British  authorities  were  totally  unprepared  for 
war.  A  few  days  later  a  strong  party  of  Boer  horsemen 
entered  Potchefstroom,  the  old  capital  of  the  Transvaal 
for  the  purpose  of  having  their  declaration  of  independ- 
ence printed.  They  forced  the  British  civil  officer,  with 
his  guard  of  120  men  of  the  Twenty-first  Regiment  to  sur- 
render, and  then  printed  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
The  next  thing  was  a  message  to  Sir  Owen  Lanyon,  sum- 
moning him  to  surrender  in  the  name  of  the  provisional 
government  and  the  gathering  of  commandos  on  the 
borders  of  Natal. 

Still,  Sir  Owen  Lanyon  did  not  believe  that  war  was 
intended,  and  the  few  British  troops  the  authorities  had 
available  were  moved  from  point  to  point  with  leisurely 
indifference.  It  required  bloodshed  to  open  the  eyes  of 
the  goverment.  This  was  provided  for  them  on  Decem- 
ber 20,  through  the  agency  of  Alfred  Aylward,  an  Irish- 
man who  had  acted  as  agent  for  the  transmission  of  Irish 
funds  to  Kruger,  Joubert  and  Pretorius  to  assist  them  in 
the  agitation  of  1880,  and  who  later  became  Joubert 's 
secretary.  Aylward  had  the  confidence  of  some  of  the 
British  officials,  who  never  for  a  moment  suspected  his 
real  character.  Through  them  he  got  to  know  that  250 
men  of  the  Ninety-fourth  Regiment  were  to  take  stores  in 
ox  wagons  from  Lydenburg  to  Pretoria.  He  at  once 
informed  Joubert,  Nicolas  Smidt,  and  Cronje  of  the 
intended  movement,  and  the  Boers  laid  their  plans 
accordingly.     At  Broncker 's  Spruit   a   Boer   patrol  sud-i 


88       MAJUBA   HILL  AND    THE  JAMESON  RAID. 

denly  appeared  before  the  astonished  soldiers,  who  knew 
nothing  of  the  hostile  demonstration  at  Potchefstroom, 
and  gave  their  colonel  two  minutes  to  surrender  the 
arms  and  stores. 

The  demand  met  with  prompt  refusal  and  the  Boers 
opened  fire  on  the  troops,  who  had  no  time  to  deploy  or 
retaliate  effectively,  and  in  seven  minutes  two-thirds  of 
the  whole  force  were  stretched  out  wounded  or  dead. 
The  colonel  in  command  being  mortally  wounded  gave 
the  order  for  surrender,  and  the  Boers  seized  the  arms 
and  stores. 

In  January,  1881,  a  few  troops  were  sent  from  Eng- 
land, the  authorities  still  assuming  that  to  crush  the 
rebellion  would  be  an  easy  task,  and  Sir  George  Colley, 
appointed  Governor  of  Natal  in  1880,  took  command. 
General  Joubert,  with  700  men,  had  crossed  the  border 
on  January  3,  and  occupied  Laing's  Nek.  Sir  George 
Colley  with  his  force,  consisting  of  twelve  companies  of 
infantry,  120  half- trained  mounted  men,  and  100  blue- 
jackets, advanced  to  meet  him.  The  engagement  took 
place  on  January  28,  the  British  troops  attempting  to 
storm  the  heights  on  which  the  Boers  were  ensconced  in 
such  a  way  behind  rocks  and  boulders  that  they  could 
hardly  be  seen.  The  result  was  a  disastrous  check  to  the 
British  arms.  The  Boers  fired  steadily  at  the  climbing 
troops,  who  were  crowded  together,  and  who  were  forced 
to  retire  in  confusion,  the  Fifty-eighth  Regiment  alone 
losing  seventy-three  killed  and  having  one  hundred 
wounded,  the  other  regiments  suffering  in  similar  heavy 
proportion. 

After  this  repulse  General  Colley  resolved  to  wait  for 
the  reinforcements  which  had  been  ordered  up  under  Sir 
Evelyn  Wood.     His  camp  at   Mt.   Prospect,  however, 


MAJUBA   HILL  AND    THE  JAMESON  RAID.       89 

was  menaced  in  the  rear  by  bodies  ctf  Boers,  and  in 
order  to  keep  the  road  open  to  Newcastle  he  made  a 
reconnaissance  in  force  to  the  Ingogo  River  on  February 
8,  and  stumbled  into  a  carefully  set  trap.  He  had  with 
him  280  rifles  and  two  big  guns,  and  this  force  was  sud- 
denly attacked  on  three  sides  at  once.  The  fight  lasted 
till  nightfall,  the  British,  as  before,  being  picked  off  by 
Boer  marksmen  hidden  in  the  kopjes  or  mounds  near  the 
river.  The  British  again  had  to  fall  back  utterly  beaten, 
just  saving  the  two  guns,  but  leaving  132  killed  and 
wounded  on  the  field  behind  them. 

On  February  17,  Sir  Evelyn  Wood  arrived  at  New- 
castle with  reinforcements,  and  on  the  night  of  February 
26,  General  Colley,  with  a  force  of  twenty  officers  and 
627  men  of  the  Fifty-eighth,  Sixtieth  and  Ninety-second 
regiments,  and  the  naval  brigade,  marched  and  occupied 
Majuba  Hill,  a  flat-topped  eminence  overlooking  the 
Boer  camp  at  Laings'  Nek,  2,500  feet  below.  Colley  s 
troops  ascended  by  a  narrow  path,  which  they  believed 
to  be  the  only  means  of  access  to  the  summit,  and  on  the 
morning  of  February  26  (which  was  Sunday)  they  looked 
down  upon  the  Boer  camp,  which  they  believed  to  be 
at  their  mercy. 

The  Boers  were  at  religious  worship.  Some  of  them 
were  singing  psalms  of  praise,  others  were  kneeling  in 
prayer.  When  the  presence  of  the  English  was  discov- 
ered on  the  hill.  Old  Testaments  were  put  aside  for  the  rifle 
and  active  preparations  began  for  assaulting  the  British 
position.  The  British  misconstrued  this  activity  for  con- 
sternation, and  thought  the  Boers  were  getting  ready  to 
retreat.  They  laughed  and  joked  and  shook  their  fists 
at  the  bearded  foe,  and  speculated  upon  how  easy  it  would 
be  to  kill  them  off  as   they   came  up  the  narrow  path. 


90      MAJUBA  HILL  AND   THE  JAMESON  RAID. 

But  the  Boer  method    of   climbing  hills  and  mountains 
differs  from  the  British  method. 

The  attack  by  the  Biers  began  at  10:30  a.  m. ,  under 
the  personal  direction  of  General  Joubert.  One  hundred 
and  fifty  Boers  volunteered  to  storm  the  hill.  They 
divided  into  two  parties,  one  party  keeping  up  a  wither- 
ing fire  on  the  British  at  the  top  of  the  hill  to  cover  the 
other  body  that,  taking  advantage  of  the  numerous  jut- 
ting rocks  and  big  stones  as  cover,  climbed  to  the  attack. 
They  were  five  hours  in  reaching  the  summit.  The 
British,  who  had  not  already  fallen  before  the  splendid 
marksmanship  of  the  assailants,  had  retreated  to  a  little 
plateau  about  thirty  yards  from  the  summit.  It  was  the 
intention  of  the  British  to  charge  when  the  Boers  reached 
the  top,  but  before  the  command  could  be  given  the 
second  party  of  Boers  took  them  upon  the  flank.  The 
fresh  troops  from  England  became  panic-stricken  and  fell 
easy  victims  to  the  Boers'  rifles.  Sir  George  Colley,  Cap- 
tain Romilly,  of  the  naval  brigade,  and  seven  other  offi- 
cers died  facing  the  foe  and  refusing  to  retire.  Fifteen 
other  officers  were  wounded  and  captured.  The  total  loss 
of  all  ranks  was  230,  besides  fifty-nine  prisoners.  The 
Boers'  losses  were  one  killed  and  five  wounded.  It  is 
said  that  not  a  shot  was  wasted  by  the  Boers  in  that 
famous  battle.  Every  shot  that  left  a  rifle  aimed  by  a 
Boer  either  killed  or  wounded  an  English  soldier.  After 
the  battle  an  examination  of  the  dead  showed  that  nearly 
every  English  soldier  had  been  shot  in  the  head,  which 
is  considered  one  of  the  best  evidences  in  the  world  of 
superior  marksmanship.  There  was  no  pattering  of  bul- 
lets on  the  rocks  about  the  English  on  Majuba  hill,  no 
whistling  of  showers  of  bullets  as  they  flew  past  them  ; 
simply  dull  thuds,  as  here  and  there  a  soldier  fell  back- 


MAJUBA   HILL  AND   THE  JAMESON  RAID.      93 

ward  dead  or  wounded.  The  smallest  part  of  the  head 
above  the  rocks  was  a  sufficient  target  for  the  unerrino^ 
riflemen  of  the  Boer  army. 

This  defeat  ended  the  war.  Sir  Evelyn  Wood  received 
orders  from  home  to  oppose  the  Boers  no  further,  and 
on  March  6  an  armistice  was  declared.  , 

On  March  22  peace  was  proclaimed.  This  was  exactly 
three  months  and  six  days  from  the  time  of  the  first 
hoisting  of  the  Boer  flag  at  Heidelberg.  The  terms  of 
peace  gave  Great  Britain  suzerain  powers,  but  a  later 
modification  of  the  treaty  left  the  repubhc  wholly  inde- 
pendent in  all  matters  relating  to  its  internal  affairs. 
Ratification  of  the  peace  took  place  on  August  8,  and 
the  Transvaal  Volksraad  met  on  September  21  as  the 
legislative  chamber  of  the  republic  to  confirm  the  treaty. 

The  third  attempt  of  the  British  to  forcibly  take  pos- 
session of  Transvaal  territory  was  in  the  winter  of  1895-96 
and  is  known  in  history  as  the  Jameson  raid.  Cecil  J. 
Rhodes  was  Premier  of  Cape  Colony  at  the  time  and 
was  the  chief  instigator  of  the  plot.  Whether  his  object 
was  to  secure  absolute  control  of  the  gold  fields  at 
Johannesburg  as  he  had  done  with  the  diamond  mines  at 
Kimberley,  or  whether  he  was  only  inspired  by  lust  of  em- 
pire, cannot  be  said;  but  certain  it  is  that  he  planned 
and  plotted  the  Jameson  raid,  and  its  failure  resulted  in 
his  downfall  as  Premier  of  Cape  Colony. 

It  was  not  until  1884  that  England  took  an  active 
part  in  the  development  of  the  gold  fields  in  the  \\*lt- 
watersrand,  but  from  that  year  until  the  present  time  a 
steady  stream  of  British  subjects  has  poured  into  the 
Transvaal  El  Dorado.  As  usual,  in  new  mining  coun- 
tries, the  first  comers  were  not  the  best  element.  Among 
them    were    adventurers    of    the    worst    type — reckless, 

6 


94      MAJUBA   HILL  AND    THE  JAMESON  RAID. 

lawless  men,  who  at  once  assumed  an  antagonistic  attitude 
towards  the  Transvaal  government  and  began  to  formulate 
grievances. 

Cecil  Rhodes  turned  an  eager  and  willing  ear  to  all 
complaints  and  made  every  effort  to  secure  the  interven- 
tion of  the  British  government.  He  did  not  hesitate  to 
recommend  war  as  the  proper  solution  of  the  trouble  and 
offered  to  share  half  of  the  expense. 

In  the  meantime  President  Kruger  attempted  to  con- 
ciliate hostile  sentiment  by  the  passage  of  mining  laws 
that  would  meet  the  demands  of  the  Outlanders,  and  it  is 
generally  conceded  by  mining  men  everywhere  that  the 
Transvaal  mining  laws  are  the  best  in  the  world.  But 
the  Outlanders  did  not  want  to  be  conciliated.  They 
wanted-  trouble  and  they  got  it.  They  formed  what  they 
called  the  Transvaal  National  Union,  and  through  the 
Johannesburg  Chamber  of  Mines  called  a  mass  meeting  in 
November,  1895,  ^^  which  they  freely  made  revolutionary 
threats. 

Mr.  Rhodes  from  the  safe  retreat  of  Kimberley  sent 
rifles,  ammunition  and  three  Maxim  guns  to  the  revolu- 
tionists, and  the  secret  drilling  of  Outlander  military  com- 
panies was  carried  on  for  some  time  preparatory  to  an 
uprising  planned  by  Mr.  Rhodes.  This  was  to  take  place 
on  December  28,  1895. 

To  insure  the  success  of  the  revolution  Dr.  Leander 
Starr  Jameson,  commanding  the  troops  of  the  British 
Sotith  African  Company,  was  to  cross  the  border  and 
re-inforce  the  revolutionists  in  Johannesburg.  Accord- 
ingly on  December  29,  Dr.  Jameson  at  the  head  of  600 
men  crossed  from  British  Bechuanaland  into  the  Trans- 
vaal. Feeding  stations  had  been  established  along  the 
road  to  Johannesburg,  under  pretense  that  they  were  to 


MAJUBA   HILL  AND   THE  JAMESON  RAID.       95 

be  used  by  a  stage  line,  and  everything  seemed  to  favor 
the  expedition.  Jameson  sent  men  ahead  to  cut  the  tele- 
graph wires,  so  that  no  news  of  the  raid  might  reach  the 
outside  world  until  he  had  accomplished  his  purpose. 
Unfortunately  for  the  raiders  they  did  not  cut  the  wire  to 
Pretoria,  and  before  they  were  well  advanced  on  the  way 
the  Transvaal  government  had  full  information  concern- 
ing their  numbers  and  purpose. 

When  Jameson  started  he  supposed  that  the  uprising 
planned  by  the  Outlanders  in  Johannesburg  had  taken 
place  and  that  the  city  was  in  their  hands.  But  the 
expected  uprising  had  not  taken  place.  The  Transvaal 
government,  fully  aware  of  the  plans,  had  merely  with- 
drawn its  local  police  and  trained  the  guns  of  the  fort  on 
the  town.  A  division  of  opinion  prevented  unanimous 
action  on  the  part  of  the  Outlanders.  Those  who  were 
not  British  subjects  saw  through  the  plot  to  raise  the 
British  flag  and  annex  the  Transvaal  to  Great  Britain, 
and  they  refused  to  be  a  party  to  it.  The  Johannesburg 
revolutionists  were  also  disconcerted  by  a  report  that  Dr. 
Jameson's  advance  had  been  postponed.  However,  they 
were  in  possession  of  Johannesburg,  because  no  opposi- 
tion had  been  made.  The  next  step  was  to  move  on 
Pretoria.  It  so  happened  that  the  annual  communion 
(or  nachtmaal)  was  being  held  in  the  capital,  and  when 
the  revolutionists  saw  from  1,200  to  1,500  armed  Boers 
in  attendance  they  quickly  returned  to  Johannesburg. 
For  a  few  days  the  revolution  was  in  a  state  of 
chaos. 

On  January  i,  the  revolutionists  learned  that  the  Boers 
were  assembling  troops  just  without  the  town  and  pathetic 
appeals  were  sent  to  Cape  Town  for  help.  The  next 
information  was  that  Jameson  was  close  by  and  coming 


# 


96      MAJUBA    HILL  AND    THE  JAMESON  RAID. 

rapidly  to  their  assistance.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  Jameson 
did  get  within  eighteen  miles  of  Johannesburg.  At 
Dornkoof  he  encounterd  a  Boer  force  under  Com- 
mandant P.  A.  Cronje,  was  incontinently  whipped  and 
forced  to  surrender. 


€1 


CHAPTER  VI. 
TWO  GREAT  BOER  GENERALS. 

P.  J.  Joubetl  and  P.  A.  Cronje  the  Military  Leaders  of  tlie  Transvaal  Ariny 
— Their  Victories  Over  the  British. 


IHE  second  man  of  importance  in  the  Transvaal  is 
Pietnis  Jacobus  Joubert,  (pronounced  Yowbert) 
vice-president  and  commandant  general  of  the 
army.  Without  the  addition  of  some  polish  he 
is  a  typical  Boer.  He  comes  of  an  old  French  Huguenot 
family,  long  settled  in  South  Africa,  with  a  strong  infusion 
of  Dutch  blood.  He  was  born  at  Congo,  Cape  Colony, 
in  1831.  He  was  bred  on  a  farm  and  began  life  as  a 
farmer.  But  his  innate  ability  soon  lifted  him  into  public 
life.  He  became  state  attorney  to  the  South  African 
Republic  and  afterward  vice-president.  He  has  long  been 
ambitious  to  be  president,  and  in  1893  came  within  881 
votes  of  winning  this  honor  from  the  great  Kruger  himself. 
In  the  late  seventies,  during  the  troubles  with  Eng- 
gland  that  culminated  in  the  war  under  the  memory  of 
which  England  has  smarted  ever  since,  Joubert  became  a 
very  prominent  figure  in  Transvaal  affairs.  He  accom- 
panied Kruger  on  his  memorable  visit  to  England,  when 
the  demand  for  the  independence  of  the  republic  was 
formulated.  He  was  the  hero  of  the  war  of  1881  and 
personally  conducted  the  battle  of  Majuba  Hill. 

Nothing  is  written  about  Joubert  that  does  not  com- 
ment on  his  fairness.  '   The  Boers,  in   their  ambition  to 

97 


98  TWO   GREAT  BOER   GENERALS. 

possess  outlying  lands  that  England  seized  before  them, 
raided  Bechuanaland  in  1884.  The  .movement  was  a 
popular  one.  The  Boers  were  flushed  with  victory. 
They  believed  the  land  was  more  theirs  than  England's, 
for  they  had  broken  the  ground  before  England  possessed 
it.     But  Joubert  stopped  it. 

"I  positively  refuse,"  he  declared,  "to  hold  office 
under  a  government  that  deliberately  breaks  its  covenants, 
and  we  have  made  covenants  with  England. " 

He  meant  it.  He  would  have  resigned  and  gone  back 
to  his  farm,  and  the  Boers  knew  it. 

Joubert  organized  the  army  of  the  Transvaal,  He 
divided  the  country  into  seventeen  miHtary  departments, 
and  each  department  again  and  again  into  smaller  divi- 
sions, with  commanders,  field  cornets  and  lieutenants  of 
various  ranks  in  charge.  Every  man  in  the  Transvaal 
became  a  trained  soldier  without  leaving  his  farm.  Every 
man  had  his  complete  equipment  ready  at  home.  Every 
man  was  pledged  to  appear  at  an  appointed  spot  at 
the  summons. 

To  mobilize  the  entire  force  of  the  republic,  Joubert 
had  to  send  only  seventeen  telegrams.  '  The  word  passed 
down  the  line,  and  in  an  incredibly  short  time  hundreds 
of  post  riders  carried  the  summons  from  farm  to  farm. 
Within  forty-eight  hours  the  entire  nation  would  be  in 
arms,  fully  equipped  and  provisioned  for  ,a  month,  await- 
ing only  the  command  to  assemble. 

In  the  old  days  of  Majuba  Hill  the  army  thus  assem- 
bled was  an  army  of  sharpshooters.  Then  Joubert's 
proud  boast  was  true — -"  Forty  bullets  per  soldier,  and  a 
man  per  bullet."  The  army  of  1899  was  much  the  same, 
reinforced  by  artillery  in  the  hands  of  Germans  and 
Frenchmen. 


nVO  GREAT  BOER   GENERALS.  99 

Once  Joubert  and  President  Kruger  were  in  Paris 
together,  and  a  lady  questioned  the  general  on  the  train- 
ing of  the  Boers  when  they  were  youngsters.  Joubert 
thus  explained  it. 

"The  Transvaal  Boers,"  he  said,  "are  hereditary 
marksmen.  In  past  generations,  they  were  particular, 
whether  Calvinists  or  Arminians,  to  have  their  children 
taught  to  read  as  a  necessary  part  of  religious  instruction. 
Homesteads  were  at  great  distances  from  schools  and 
churches,  and  wild  beasts  and  hostile  KaiBrs  infested  the 
country. 

' '  Still,  to  school  the  children  had  to  go.  Each  boy 
was  provided  with  a  gun  and  a  pouch  filled  with  ammuni- 
tion. He  was  expected  on  his  way  home  to  keep  his 
hand  and  eye  in  practice  as  a  marksman,  and  showed 
he  did  so  by  bringing  home  a  bag  filled  with  game.  The 
Kaffirs  stood  in  awe  of  these  Transvaal  children,  who 
were  taught  not  to  be  aggressive  or  to  provoke  attack. " 

While  Joubert  was  saying  all  this  the  president  sat 
near  by  quietly  smoking  a  big  pipe  and  not  interrupting 
with  a  word.     Joubert  roused  him. 

"Is  not  that  so,  President?"  he  asked. 

"Yes,"  responded  Mr.  Kruger;  " we  try  to  make  our 
youngsters  understand  that  the  meek  shall  inherit  the 
earth."  ' 

Reverting  for  a  moment  to  the  Jameson  raid,  a  story 
is  told  of  Joubert  which  gives  us  a  pretty  good  idea  as  to 
what  would  have  been  the  fate  of  the  doctor  and  his  com- 
rades if  the  general  had  had  the  settling  of  it. 

When  they  surrendered,  the  raiders  were  marched  off 
to  prison,  and  outside  the  prison  walls  there  were  gathered 
10,000  Boers  engaged  in  speculation  as  to  what  would 
happen  to  those  within.     A  story  came  over  the  wires 


loo  TWO   GREAT  BOER  GENERALS. 

stating  that  opinion  was  in  favor  of  cutting  off  their  ears. 
Others  wanted  immediate  execution,  and,  according  to 
all  accounts,  Joubert  was  one  of  them.  He  sympathized 
in  part  with  the  Outlanders,  but  with  such  practices  as 
the  raiders  had  been  guilty  of  he  had  no  sympathy 
whatever. 

But  President  Kruger  was  anxious  that  no  such  extreme 
and  drastic  measures  should  be  enforced,  and  he  took 
Joubert  in  hand  with  a  view  to  winning  him  over  to  his 
way  of  thinking.  The  two  shut  themselves  up  in  a  room 
and  remained  there  in  anxious  talk  and  argument  the 
whole  night  through.  When  they  rose  Oom  Paul  had 
triumphed,  and  Joubert  was  now  for  mercy. 

The  crowd  outside  had  to  be  told  of  the  decision,  and 
Joubert  told  them,  and  told  them  skillfully. 

"Fellow  burghers,"  he  said,  "if  you  had  a  beautiful 
flock  of  sheep,  and  a  neighbor's  dogs  got  into  the  pasture 
and  killed  them,  what  would  you  do?  Would  you  pick 
up  your  rifle  and  straightway  proceed  to  shoot  those  dogs, 
thus  making  yourself  liable  to  greater  damage  than  the 
sheep  destroyed,  or  would  you  lay  hold  on  those  dogs  and 
carry  them  to  your  neighbor,  saying:  'Now,  here  are 
5'our  dogs.  I  caught  them  in  the  act.  Pay  me  for  the 
damage  done,  and  they  shall  be  returned  to  you  '  ?  " 

At  this  he  paused  for  a  moment,  waiting  for  his  mean- 
ing to  go  home  to  the  minds  of  the  crowd.  Then  he 
slowly  and  quietly  added:  "  We  have  the  neighbor's  dogs 
in  gaol  here.  What  shall  we  do  with  them  ?  "  Joubert 
gained  his  point.  Almost  every  one  was  for  asking  the 
"neighbor"  to  pay  for  the  damage,  and  the  result  was 
the  Transvaal's  bill  of  costs  to  Great  Britain,  with  the 
remarkable  request  for  a  million  sterling  extra  for  "moral 
and  intellectual  damage. " 


BOER  SCOUTS   T  OCATING  THE   ENEMY. 


TWO   GREAT  BOER   GENERALS.  loi 

Joubert  and  Kruger  have  never  been  very  good  friends. 

They  are  both  strong  men,  and,  although  in  pubHc 
and  in  the  councils  of  state  they  have  always  appeared  to 
be  on  the  best  of  terms,  it  was  an  open  secret  in  Pretoria 
for  many  years  past  that  their  personal  relations  were  not 
of  the  most  cordial. 

This  may  be  accounted  for  in  many  ways.  The  two 
men  have  little  in  common,  save  strength  of  character  and 
love  of  their  country. 

Kruger  admires  Joubert's  ability,  shrewdness  and  edu- 
cation; Joubert  envies  Kruger,  his  place,  his  power  and 
his  money. 

The  Kaffirs  have  a  saying,  ' '  Indonga  ziwelene, " 
meaning  ' '  the  walls  have  knocked  together. "  This  say- 
ing they  apply  when  two  important  personages  come  into 
collision.  It  has  often  been  used  in  connection  with  the 
two  protagonists  of  the  South  African  Republic. 

Piet  Joubert  is  nicknamed  "  Slim  Piet, "  which  he  takes 
as  a  great  compliment.  Slim,  in*  the  common  Dutch  par- 
lance, means  something  between  smart  and  cunning;  the 
American  expression  ' '  cute  "  is  the  nearest  equivalent. 

Joubert  is  an  honest  man.  He  never  has  swindled 
any  one;  but,  being  a  man  of  business  first  and  a  farmer 
or  a  generalissimo  afterward,  he  takes  the  keenest  delight 
in  getting  the  best  of  a  deal,  whether  it  be  in  mining 
shares,  gold  claims,  water  rights  or  oxen.  It  is  this  pride 
in  the  conscious  sentiment  of  "smartness"  that  is  such  a 
prominent  feature  throughout  the  Boer  character. 

One  of  Joubert's  foibles  is  being  photographed.  Prob- 
ably he  is  the  most  camera'd  man  in  the  Transvaal.  Owing 
to  this  harmless  little  peculiarity  his  features  are  thoroughly 
well  known,  and  may  be  critically  examined  as  typical  of 
the  highest  class  of  Boer  intellect. 


I02  TWO   GREAT  BOER   GENERALS.      • 

A  broad,  straight,  furrowed  brow,  from  which  the 
whitening  hair  is  carefully  brushed  back,  overhangs  a  pair 
of  powerful,  clear,  and  honest  gray  eyes,  which  look  the 
stranger  straight  in  the  face,  and  are  not  shifty  and  fur- 
tive as  are  those  in  the  head  of  the  average  Boer.  The 
mouth  is  cold  and  hard,  with  no  trace  of  a  smile;  the 
corners  droop  slightly,  and  the  general  expression  is  not 
amiable.  The  nose  is  the  striking  feature;  it  inspires 
respect,  for  it  is  built  on  strong,  commanding  lines,  and 
broadens  out  at  the  base  into  powerful  but  sensitive 
nostrils.  The  face  as  a  whole  has  dignity,  repose,  almost 
a  certain  nobility  of  its  own. 

Twice  has  he  attempted  to  wrest  the  presidency  from 
Kruger  and  in  1893  came  near  to  success.  There  were 
three  candidates  in  the  field:  Kruger,  Joubert  and  Kotze. 
The  .last-named  had  no  chance,  only  polled  76  votes;  but 
between  the  other  pair  it  was  a  neck-and-neck  race, 
and  Mr.  Kruger  only  won  by  872  out  of  a  total  poll 
of  nearly  15,000,  the  actual  figures  being:  Kruger,  7,881; 
Joubert,  7,009.  .  By  the  time  the  elections  came  on 
again  last  year  the  situation  had  altered  greatly,  and 
Mr.  Kruger  was  a  hot  favorite.  There  were  again 
three  contestants,  and  the  general  came  out  last,  the 
result  being:  Kruger',  12,858;  Schalk  Burger,  3,753; 
Joubert,  2,001. 

Joubert  is  personally  popular  with  the  Boers,  and  aside 
from  the  admiration  they  bear  him  on  account  of  his 
military  greatness  they  like  him  for  his  hatred  of  the 
British.  Here  is  what  he  said  in  1897  to  an  English  cor- 
respondent in  Pretoria,  which  shows  the  origin  and  causes 
of  that  hatred: 

' '  Have  not  you  English  always  followed  on  our  heels 
— not  on  us  here  only,  but  all  over  the  world,  always  con- 


TWO  GREAT  BOER   GENERALS.  103 

quering,  always  getting  more  land?  We  were  independent 
when  you  came  here.  We  are  independent  now,  and 
you  shall  never  take  our  independence  from  us.  The 
whole  people  will  fight.  You  may  vshed  blood  over  all 
South  Africa,  but  it  will  only  be  over  our  dead  bodies 
that  you  will  seize  our  independence.  Every  Dutchman 
in  South  Africa  will  fight  against  you.  Even  the  women 
will  fight.  You  may  take  away  our  lives,  but  our  inde- 
pendence— never. " 

While  Joubert  is  the  cunning  schemer  of  the  Trans- 
vaal army,  Cronje  is  its  rough  and  burly  fighter.  Of  the 
two  he  is  the  more  representative  Boer.  Joubert,  pos- 
sibly from  his  French  ancestry,  is  a  man  of  a  certain 
polish,  and  can  be  indirect  when  policy  requires.  Cronje 
is  blunt  and  always  to  the  point.  His  craft  is  that  of  the 
hunter,  and  thinly  disguises  the  force  that  awaits  only  the 
opportunity. 

General  Cronje  is  greatly  admired  by  the  Boers.  They 
think  Joubert  is  a  wonderful  tactician  and  organizer,  but 
they  love  Cronje,  the  silent  man,  of  sudden  and  violent 
action.  He  is  no  man's  friend.  His  steel  gray  eyes  peer 
out  from  under  huge,  bushy  brows.  He  never  speaks 
unless  necessary,  and  then  in  the  fewest  words.  He 
never  asks  a  favor.  When  time  for  action  comes  he  acts, 
and  that  with  the  force  of  fate  and  with  no  consideration 
for  hirriself  or  his  men. 

This  is  the  way  he  handled  the  Jamfeson  raid.  He 
saved  the  republic  then,  in  the  opinion  of  the  republic. 
He  is  a  man  after  the  Boers'  own  heart. 

Cronje  is  a  soldier  and  nothing  else.  He  hates  form. 
He  hates  politics,  though  a  born  leader  of  men.  He  was 
strongly  urged  to  oppose  Kruger  for  the  presidency  in 
1898,   but  he  would  not.       He  will  have  none  of  any  rule 


104  TH'O  GREAT  BOER  GENERALS. 

but  that  of  the  rifle.     He  despises  cities.      He  is  a  man 
of  the  veldt. 

Wily  and  farseeing  as  is  Piet  Joubert,  no  man  of  them 
all  can  handle  troops  in  the  field  as  Cronje.  He  has  the 
eye  of  a  hawk  for  position,  the  nose  of  a  jackal  for  signs 
of  weakness  in  an  enemy.  His  manoeuvring  of  Jameson 
was  that  of  an  Oliver  Cromwell. 

Cronje  was  commandant  at  Potchefstroom,  seventy 
miles  to  the  south  of  Krugersdorp,  when  Jameson  crossed 
the  border.  He  co-operated  with  Malan  and  Potgieter, 
but  the  conduct  of  the  fight  lay  with  the  cool  head  of 
Cronje. 

Any  one  who  has  visited  the  scene  of  Jameson's  defeat 
must  have  realized  how  much  of  the  hunter  there  is  still 
in  the  Boer  fighting  man.  No  mere  soldier  would  have 
herded  his  enemy  so  patiently  into  a  position  as  did  Cronje 
into  the  fatal  corral  at  Doornkop. 

All  through  the  night  succeeding  Jameson's  attack  on 
Krugersdorp,  Cronje  kept  warily  hustling  his  enemy  into 
the  place  of  death.  The  brave,  foodless  troopers,  he^vy 
with  sleep,  were  driven  like  sheep  into  a  shambles. 

When  the  morning  broke,  to  the  right,  to  the  left  and 
in  front  of  them  Boer  marksmen  kept  their  rifles  trained 
upon  the  raiders.  Escape  there  was  none.  But  the  bat- 
tle was  won  in  the  night  hours,  while  Jameson  was  help- 
lessly blundering  on  in  front  of  his  remorseless  enemy. 
Cronje  could  afford  to  wait  until  the  troopers  came  within 
a  hundred  yards  before  he  gave  the  mercy  blow. 

And  yet  there  was  a  time  in  the  darkness  when  Jame- 
son almost  escaped  from  his  hunters.  Cronje's  son  was 
badly  wounded  in  the  early  skirmish.  For  the  moment 
the  father's  instinct  overcame  the  general's  discretion.  He 
bore  his  boy  back  to  Krugersdorp,  and  left  him  with  Dr. 


TIVO   GREAT  BOER   GENERALS.  105 

Viljoen  there.  It  was  a  father's  act,  and  one  strangely 
unlike  the  roifgh  farmer's  exterior  of  the  man  who  mas- 
tered Sir  John  Willoughby. 

The  lesson  learned  that  pitiful  night  dictated  Cronje's 
courteous  assurance  to  the  defender  of  Mafeking  that  the 
Red  Cross  was  safe  from  him  and  his. 

While  Cronje  was  gone,  somebody  blundered  ;  and 
the  troopers  in  their  blindness  very  nearly  wandered  round 
the  flank  of  the  beaters  into  safety.  But  it  was  not  to 
be,  and  long  ere  daylight  Cronje  was  back  to  repair 
the  damage  and  arrange  his  final  battle. 

That  drizzly,  misty  night  made  Cronje  a  war  god 
among  the  Boers. 

And  yet  these  stolid  veldt  men  give  little  demonstra- 
tion of  their  admiration.  The  Boers  are  not  a  grateful 
nation  as  the  Americans  were  with  Dewey  or  the  British 
with  Kitchener.  Days  after  the  battle  Cronje  rode 
heavily  down  the  Kerk  straat  in  Pretoria,  a  heavy,  big- 
boned  peasant  upon  a  shaggy,  trippling  pony.  No  man 
touched  his  hat  to  him,  few  accosted  him. 

And  yet  it  is  significant  that  Cronje,  among  the  Boers, 
is  always  known  as  "Commandant"  Cronje.  There  is  a 
rude  dignity  about  the  man  that  compels  so  much  of 
respect.  Other  men  are  known  by  their  Christian  names, 
' '  Slim  Piet  "  Joubert,  * '  Oom  Christian  "  Joubert,  ' '  Oom 
Jan"  Hofmeyer  —  occasionally,  but  rarely  nowadays, 
"Oom  Paul"  Kruger.  In  a  place  apart  stands  "Com- 
mandant "  Cronje. 

So  far  as  my  memory  carries,  Cronje  was  not  even 
specifically  thanked  by  the  Volksraad  for  his  great  services 
to  the  state  at  Doornkop.  He  was  a  burgher;  it  was  his 
duty  to  repel  the  invader;  he  repelled  him — and  there 
the  matter  rested. 


io6  TIVO   GREAT  BOER   GENERALS. 

They  would  have  censured  him  had  he  failed;  they 
refrained  from  comment  when  he  succeeded. 

Cronje,  riding  back  to  Pretoria,  had  no  guard  of  honor 
to  receive  him,  no  great  civic  function  to  fete  him,  no 
sword  of  honor  to  adorn  him.  He  was  plain  Peasant 
Cronje,  returning,  heavy  hearted,  from  his  wounded  son's 
pallet  in  Krugersdorp  Hospital,  somewhat  weary  in  the 
bones  from  those  long  hours  in  the  steaming  saddle,  no- 
.wise  elated,  nowise  altered  from  his  everyday  demeanor. 

Since  then  Cronje  received  a  seat  in  the  Executive 
Council,  and  was  made  a  personage  with  a  substantial 
state  salary;  but  the  man  was  in  no  way  changed.  He 
was  thought  to  be  a  supporter  of  the  president's  when  he 
joined  the  Executive  Council,  but  neither  Kruger  or 
Joubert  found  him  amenable.  He  is  not  of  the  race  that 
makes  the  party  man. 

He  is  as  individual  as  Kruger,  as  strong  in  the  faith 
of  his  own  generalship  as  Joubert. 


CH^APTER  VII. 
CECIL  JOHN  RHODES. 

Remarkable  African  Career  of  England's  Empire  Builder — Description  of  the 
Famous  Diamond  Mines  at  Kimberley, 

'HO  is  Cecil  Rhodes  ? 

He  is  known  as  the  Diamond  King.  He  is 
counted  among  the  wealthiest  men  in  the 
world.  He  is  a  former  and  famous  premier 
of  Cape  Colony.  He  is  reputed  a  schemer.  He  is 
condemned  as  the  plotter  of  the  Jameson  raid.  But 
he  is  not  popularly  spoken  of  as  a  statesman  and 
no  one  ever  heard  of  him  as  a  patriot.  Cecil  Rhodes 
is  more  criticised  than  admired.  Yet  there  are  some 
who  predict  that  this  South  African  magnate  will,  if 
he  lives  to  complete  his  natural  career,  go  into  history 
as  one  of  the  "greatest  statesmen  England  has  ever  pro- 
duced. 

Though  beginning  life  poor  and  with  weak  lungs,  Cecil 
Rhodes  has  made  himself  a  gigantic  fortune,  and  has 
practically  founded  Great  Britain's  enormous  empire  in 
South  Africa.      Yet  he  was  not  born  until  1853. 

He  was  the  younger  son  of  an  Enghsh  clergyman. 
His  father  sent  him  to  Oxford,  but  signs  of  consumption 
necessitated  a  change  of  air.  An  older  brother  was 
farming  in  Natal,  and  Cecil  was  sent  to  join  him. 

Kimberley  was  then  becoming  famous,  and  Herbert 
Rhodes  caught  the  fever  and  went  there.      After  a  year, 

107 


io8  CECIL  JOHN  RHODES. 

Cecil,  greatly  improved  in  health,  followed,  and  there  and 
then  began  his  famous  career. 

He  and  his  brother  staked  out  claims  and  worked 
them.  They  were  lucky.  They  amassed  little  fortunes. 
Then  Cecil  threw  over  his  work  and  his  prospects,  went 
home,  re-entered  college  and  got  his  degree.  Poor  again, 
he  at  once  returned  to  the  diamond  fields,  got  into  his 
overalls  and  went  to  work. 

It  was  now  that  his  high  talent  began  to  tell.  He  was 
skillful  in  working  his  mine,  but  he  was  more  skillful  in 
selling  his  wares.  He  made  splendid  profits  and  loomed 
up  as  a  successful  man  at  a  time  when  competition  was 
cutting  throats  and  ruining  prices. 

Rhodes  saw  the  root  of  the  trouble  and  the  remedy. 
Supply  for  the  time  exceeded  demand,  or  rather,  the 
possibility  of  profitable  distribution.  After  several  years 
of  argument  he  succeeded  in  getting  the  jealous  miners 
to  combine  for  mutual  protection  and  the  common  interest. 
The  great  De  Beers  Company  was  the  eventful  result, 
and  Cecil  Rhodes  controlled  it.  A  united  Kimberley 
rules  to-day  the  diamond  world.  The  capital  of  the  com- 
pany is  $40,000,000  and  it  pays  a  dividend  averaging  40 
per  cent. 

The  story  of  how  he  effected  the  great  diamond  trust 
is  worth  repeating.  He  was  a  very  young  man  at  the 
time,  and  when  he  once  had  his  plans  perfected  he  went 
to  London  and  placed  his  scheme  before  the  Rothschilds. 
Even  those  powerful  capitalists  were  staggered  by  such 
an  enormous  proposition,  especially  as  it  came  from  such 
a  youthful  person.  They  said  they  would  take  time  and 
consider  it,  and  asked  him  to  call  later.  To  which 
Rhodes  haughtily  replied  that  his  time  was  too  valuable 
to  wait  so  long.     He  announced  that  he  would  be  back  in 


.^"JSii  ^^^^^Jr}*! 


A  DASH  FOR  KIMBERLEY. 


BARNEY -BARN ATO,  THE  LATE  DIAMOND  KING. 


CECIL  JOHN  RHODES.  iii 

an  hour  for  his  answer,  and  if  it  were  not  favorable  he 
would  go  elsewhere. 

The  result  was  that  his  proposition  was  accepted  and 
he  returned  to  Kimberley  to  execute  his  plans  by  the 
millions  of  the  Rothschilds. 

What  he  did  in  African  diamonds  Rhodes  repeated  on 
a  smaller  scale  in  African  gold.  His  consolidated  gold 
field  is  not  a  monopoly.  It  has  many  vast  rivals,  but  its 
average  dividend  is  25  per  cent  upon  an  enormous  capital. 

So  much  for  Cecil  Rhodes,  the  diamond  king  and 
multi-millionaire.  Now  began  his  career  as  a  statesman, 
a  career  that  his  admirers  say  is  only  in  its  cradle.  He 
was  the  Crcesus  of  South  Africa.  He  aimed  to  be  its 
Bismarck. 

Years  ago — one  version  puts  it  in  1881 — he  was  in 
the  office  of  a  Kimberley  diamond  merchant  and  the  map 
of  Africa  was  before  him.  He  swept  his  hand  over  the 
great  central  region  from  the  Cape  to  Lake  Tanganyika. 
Then  he  turned  and  said  impressively: 

"All  that  for  England.      It  is  the  dream  of  my  life." 

When  his  time  came,  when  his  vast  wealth  and 
immense  business  prestige  made  him  the  power  of  Africa, 
there  were  no  difficulties  for  him.  He  ignored  the  Boers, 
the  Germans  and  the  Portuguese.  He  forgot  Rorke's 
Drift  and  Majuba  Hill.  He  had  the  brain  to  conceive 
and  the  genius  to  work  out.  He  believed  in  the  im- 
perial idea  and  the  British  flag,  and  he  won. 

He  determined  to  acquire  for  England  that  vast  cen- 
tral district  north  of  the  Transvaal  which  is  now  known  as 
Rhodesia,  named,  of  course,  for  him.  He  went  to  Eng- 
land and  organized  the  Imperial  British  South  Africa 
Company,  with  the  Duke  of  Abercorn  as  chairman,  the 
Duke  of  Fife  deputy  chairman  and  himself  as  managing 

7 


112  CECIL  JOHN  RHODES. 

director.  Certain  half-forgotten  concessions  granted  by 
King  Lobengula  of  the  Matabeles  served  as  the  pretext. 
Of  course  Lobengula  repudiated  them  when  pressed,  for 
^the  men  to  whom  he  h^id  granted  them  were  dead  and 
forgotten. 

The  black  man  denied  the  Englishman  his  ' '  rights. " 
The  black  man  was  punished.  The  British  f^ag  presently 
floated  over  Lobengula's  ancient  forests.  Rhodesia  came 
into  existence.  The  British  empire  in  South  Africa  was 
established  and  Cecil  J^hodes  was  the  greatest  power  in 
the  Dark  Continent. 

All  this  was  not  accomplished,  of  course,  without  war 
and  bloodshed.  The  ancient  tribes  of  Africa  were 
trampled  under  foot,  and  what  was  more,  the  Boer 
power,  which  had  already  been  reaching  anxious  hands 
toward  Matabeleland,  with  its  fertile  valleys  and  moun- 
tains of  mineral  wealth,  was  checked  and  confined  by 
hard  and  fast  boundaries.      England  was  supreme. 

Meantime  Rhodes  had  also  been  acquiring  vast  polit- 
ical power.  He  had  been  made  a  member  of  the  Cape 
House  of  Assembly  in  1883,  and  at  the  age  of  28  was 
treasurer-general  of  Cape  Colony.  In  1890,  when  the 
Sprigg  ministry  was  defeated,  there  was  but  one  vote  for 
the  Cape  premiership,  and  that  pronounced  the  name  of 
Cecil  Rhodes. 

As  premier  he  not  only  vastly  increased  his  power  and 
fame,  but  accomplished  that  Napoleonic  deed  just 
described,  the  acquisition  of  Rhodesia.  It  was  then  said 
that  Rhodes  had  reached  the  highest  point  of  power  and 
honor  possible,  though  his  friends  knew  that  greater 
schemes  were  forming. 

But  in  1896  came  Cecil  Rhodes*  first  setback,  and  it 
is  one  from  which  he  has  not  yet  recovered.     It  was  the 


CECIL  JOHN  RHODES.  113 

Jameson  raid — that  startling  expedition  into  the  heart  of 
the  Transvaal  that  proved  so  huge  and  so  costly  a  blunder 
to  all  concerned. 

The  truth  dawned  shortly  that  it  was  Cecil  Rhodes 
who  planned  it,  or  at  least  gave  it  inspiration  and  encour- 
agement, and  Mr.  Rhodes  has  not  denied  it.  His  defiant 
attitude  toward  the  committee  of  inquiry  in  London  was 
regarded  as  an  admission.  He  is  reported  to  have  told 
the  Kaiser  in  Berlin  that  this  raid  was  the  only  mistake  of 
his  life,  and  that  it  was  a   mistake  only  because  it  failed. 

At  all  events  Mr.  Rhodes  resigned  the  premiership  in 
consequence  of  this  fiasco,  and  has  since  kept  out  of  poli- 
tics. He  lost  enormous  prestige  at  home  and  through- 
out the  world,  but  he  lost  nothing  of  his  enormous  po])u- 
larity  in  South  Africa,  and  is  to-day  as  close  to  the  Eng- 
lish heart  there  as  always.  - 

A  history  could  be  written  of  the  great  diamond  fields 
at  Kimberley  that  would  fill  several  volumes.  For  the 
purposes  of  this  narrative  the  following  facts  will  suffice  : 

Nobody  knows  just  how  much  the  diamonds  kept  in 
store  at  Kimberley  are  worth,  but  the  sum  certainly  is 
gigantic.  Quite  possibly  it  is  $100,000,000.  The  com- 
pany has  offices  in  London,  but  its  headquarters  are  in 
the  South  African  city,  where  in  a  building  resembling  a 
bank  the  gems  are  kept  stored  away  in  vaults.  If  only  a 
fraction  of  them  were  offered  for  sale  at  once  the  price  of 
diamonds  promptly  would  tumble  ;  but  the  great  corpora- 
tion, owning  deposits  which  produce  90  per  cent  of  the 
world's  entire  yield  of  these  precious  stones,  controls  the 
market  by  disposing  of  only  a  limited  number  of  carats  a 
year. 

The  yield  of  the  mines  is  5,500  carats  every  twenty- 
four  hours.     The  diamonds  are  sent  daily,  under  armed 


114  CECIL  JOHN  RHODES. 

escort,  to  the  company's  headquarters,  and  dehvered  to 
the  appraisers  in  charge.  First  they  are  cleaned  by  boil- 
ing them  in  a  mixture  of  nitric  and  sulphuric  acids,  and 
then  they  are  carefully  sorted  in  respect  to  size,  color  and 
purity.  In  one  room  are  kept  on  exhibition  60,000  carats, 
and  the  spectacle  they  afford  is  most  striking.  Beneath 
large  windows  runs  a  broad  counter  covered  with  sheets 
of  white  paper,  upon  which  are  laid  out  glistening  heaps 
of  diamonds  of  all  shades,  from  deep  yellow  to  blue  whit^ 
from  deep  brown  to  light  brown,  and  in  a  great  variety  of 
blues,  greens  and  pinks. 

Only  a  dozen  years  ago  the  Kimberley  mines  included 
over  3,000  separate  claims,  each  thirty-one  feet  square, 
separated  from  each  other  by  narrow  roads.  In  1893, 
however,  Cecil  Rhodes  brought  about  a  consolidation  of 
all  these  properties  into  a  single  corporation,  which  now 
practically  monopolizes  the  diamond  production  of  the 
world,  with  a  capital  of  $19,500,000.  Two  of  the  mines, 
the  Du  Toits  Pan  and  the  De  Beers,  are  the  largest 
holes  ever  sunk  in  the  earth,  the  mouth  of  the  former 
being  n^ne^een  acres  in  extent  while  the  latter  has  a  yawn 
of  thirty-five  acres.  They  are  lighted  by  electricity,  and 
the  machinery  used  is  of  the  most  ingenious  and  powerful 
description. 

From  the  central  shaft  of  each  mine  runs  a  system  of 
galleries  at  various  levels,  like  so  many  Burrows,  in  which 
miners  dig  out  the  diamond-bearing  earth  and  load  it 
upon  handcars  that  are  hauled  to  the  surface  with  the 
help  of  machinery.  This  earth  is  a  bluish  clay.  It  is 
spread  out  over  the  ground  for  some  weeks,  and  though 
hard  and  tough  at  first  becomes  friable  and  crumbly 
through  exposure  to  sun  and  moisture.  The  process  is 
helped   by  going    over   it  with   harrows.     When  it  has 


CECIL  JOHN  RHODES.  115 

reached  a  satisfactory  condition  the  earth  is  loaded  into 
handcars  and  taken  to  the  huge  revolving  washing  ma- 
chines. 

The  concentrate,  when  removed  from  the  washing 
machines,  is  placed  on  tables,  where  it  is  sorted  while 
wet  by  white  men,  and  again  after  it  is  dry  by  Kaffirs. 
The  sorters  work  with  small  trowels,  and  not  a  diamond 
the  size  of  a  pinhead  escapes  their  notice.  There  is  no 
great  difficulty  in  this  task,  for  the  gems  in  their  natural 
state  are  by  no  means  the  dull  pebbles  they  are  com- 
monly described  as  being.  On  the  contrary,  they  are 
bright  and  sparkling.  After  being  conveyed  to  the  com- 
pany's headquarters,  they  are  valued  and  sold  in  parcels 
to  local  buyers,  who  represent  the  leading  diamond  mer- 
chants of  Europe.  The  size  of  a  parcel  varies  from  a 
few  thousand  carats  up;  in  one  instance  a  few  years  ago 
nearly  250,000  carats  were  disposed  of  in  one  lot  to  a  single 
purchaser.     The  stones  are  taken  to  London  to  be  cut. 

Geologists  think  they  know  just  how  the  diamonds  of 
the  South  African  fields  were  made  by  nature.  The  sur- 
face layer  of  the  earth  thereabouts  ages  ago  was  a  car- 
bonaceous shale.  Carbon  in  its  pure  state  is  the  sole 
material  of  the  diamond.  By  and  by  volcanic  stuff  from 
the  bowels  of  the  earth  was  vomited  up  through  the 
shale,  and  the  enormous  heat  thus  generated  caused  the 
carbon  in 'the  shale  to  crystalize  in  the  form  of  diamonds, 
As  a  result,- there  is  a  vast  body  of  blue  clay,  through 
which  gems  are  scattered  like  plums  in  a  pudding,  and  so 
evenly  that  100  tons  of  the  material  can  be  counted  on 
to  yield  about  100  carats  of  the  precious  stones.  The 
deposits,  apparently,  are  inexhaustible. 

The  discovery  of  diamonds  in  South  Africa  was  purely 
accidental.     A  stranger  ' '  trekking  "  through  the  country 


ii6  CECIL  JOHN  RHODES. 

stopped  overnight  at  the  house  of  a  hospitable  Dutch 
farmer,  who  showed  him  as  curiosities  some  bright  peb- 
bles found  by  his  children,  which  the  latter  used  as  play- 
things. The  visitor  suspected  that  they  were  diamonds, 
and  being  an  honest  man,  suggested  the  idea  to  his  host. 
The  latter  took  them  to  the  nearest  city,  and  sold  them 
for  a  surft  sufficient  to  make  him  rich  for  life.  Later  on, 
many  valuable  stones  were  found  in  the  gravel  of  the  Vaal 
and  Gong-Gong  rivers,  but  it  was  not  until  1870  that  pros- 
pectors came  upon  the  real  source  of  supply  from  which 
these  accidental  gems  had  been  washed  out  by  the 
streams.  Even  then,  only  the  yellowish  surface  earth 
was  worked,  and  when  the  miners  got  down  to  the  blue 
clay,  which  later  proved  to  be  the  true  matrix  of  the 
stones,'  they  imagined  that  the  deposits  were  exhausted. 

The  Kimberley  mines  yield  2, 5CX), 000  carats  annually, 
representing  a  value  of  $25,000,000,  of  which  two-fifths 
is  clear  profit.  During  the  last  quarter-century  they  have 
added  to  the  world'j  wealth  ten  tons  of  diamonds,  worth 
$300,000,000  uncut  and  $600,000,000  after  cutting. 

These  mines  employ  1,500  Europeans  and  6,600  Kaf- 
firs. The  utmost  precautions  are  taken  against  thefts, 
yet  the  company  reckons  on  a  loss  of  ten  to  fifteen  per 
cent  of  its  product  in  this  way.  The  business  of  pur- 
chasing stolen  gems  occupies  many  enterprising  persons, 
and  the  methods  devised  by  the  "I.  D,  B.'s^"  as  the 
illicit  diamond  buyers  are  called,  exhibit  an  ingenuity 
worthy  of  a  more  honorable  calling.  Laws  framed  to 
put  down  this  offense  are  exceedingly  strict — so  much  so 
that  a  presumption  of  guilt  stands  against  an  accused 
person  unless  he  can  prove  his  innocence — and  sentences 
of  from  five  to  fifteen  years  are  commonly  imposed  in 
cases  of  conviction.     The  thief,  if  caught,  is  whipped  with 


CECIL  JOHN  RHODES.  117 

extreme  severity,  or  else  set  to  breaking  rocks  for  a  term 
of  years. 

Exceptionally  good  wages  serve  to  attract  the  Kaffirs 
to  the  mines  and  to  reconcile  them  to  certain  conditions 
of  servitude  with  which  white  men  hardly  could  be 
induced  to  put  up.  These  relate  to  the  prosecutions 
against  thieving.  Every  evening  the  laborers  are  obliged 
to  strip  themselves  to  absolute  nudity  and  hang  their 
clothes — usually  the  latter  consist  of  breechclout  merely 
— upon  pegs  on  the  wall.  Then  they  are  subjected  to  an 
elaborate  examination,  even  their  mouths  and  ears  being 
inspected.  Then  they  go  to  the  quarters  where  they  pass 
the  night,  blankets  being  provided  for  their  comfort,  and 
the  clothing  they  have  left  behind  is  carefully  looked 
over.  Customarily  they  are  engaged  for  a  period  of  three 
months,  and  may  resume  the  contract  as  often  as  they 
desire;  but  during  the  term  of  employment  they  are  not 
permitted  to  leave  the  enclosure,  which  is  surrounded  by 
a  wall  miles  in  length  and  of  considerable  height. 

The  man  who  controls  this  vast  industry,  Cecil  Rhodes, 
is  known  as  "the  laziest  man  in  South  Africa. "  His 
principal  estate  is  at  Groote  Schiiur,  near  Cape  Town, 
just  beneath  the  shadow  of  Table  Mountain,  and  from 
which  one  can  look  out  upon  the  Atlantic  and  Indian 
oceans.  Here  he  has  a  great  mansion  and  one  of  the 
finest  botanical  and  zoological  gardens  in  the  world. 

While  he  has  untold  wealth,  and  spends  money  reck- 
lessly to  further  his  ambitions,  his  personal  tastes  in  food 
and  raiment  are  simple.  He  knows  all  races  in  South 
Africa  and  has  been  most  democratic  in  his  dealings  with 
them.  He  detests  society  and  formalities  and  is  a  pro- 
nounced woman  hater — which  accounts  for  his  being  a 
bachelor.       He    is.  a  silent,    uncommunicative  man,   and 


ii8  CECIL  JOHN  RHODES. 

prides  himself  upon  the  fact  that  he  has  Aever  scored  but 
one  failure — the  Jameson  raid. 

He  has  never  ceased  in  his  efforts  to  make  Great 
Britain  absolute  in  South  Africa,  and  while  the  British 
government  has  at  times  apparently  turned  him  the 
"  cold  shoulder,"  it  has  never  disowned  or  discarded  him. 
He  is  still  privy  councillor  to  the  queen,  and  with  British 
absolutism  in  South  Africa  may  become  officially  vice-king 
of  that  great  section. 

In  his  book  "Following  the  Equator,"  Mark  Twain 
says  of  Cecil  Rhodes:  "I  admire  him;  I  frankly  con- 
fess it,  and  when  his  time  comes  I  am  going  to  buy  a 
piece  of  the  rope  for  a  keepsake." 


ROYAL   MARINES   IN   BATTLE. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
PRESIDENT  KRUGER. 

Biographical   Description  of  "Oom  Paul,"  the   Head  of  the    South  African 
RepubUc — A  Warrior  and  a  Statesman — His  Home  Life. 

TEPHANUS  JOHANNES  PAULUS KRUGER 
is  the  full  name  of  the  President  of  the  South 
African  Republic,  although  he  so  uses  it  only 
when  signing  State  papers.  To  his  burghers 
he  is  Oom  (uncle)  Paul,  and  many  of  his  admirers  have 
given  him  the  title  of  the  ' '  Lion  of  Rustenburg  " — Rus- 
tenburg  having  been  his  residence  previous  to  his  election 
to  the  presidency. 

The  history  of  Paul  Kruger  is  the  history  of  the  South 
African  Republic.  He  was  born  October  lo,  1825,  near 
the  present  town  of  Groff  Reinet,  in  the  Colesburg  division 
of  Cape  Colony.  He  was  a  motherless  lad  not  much 
more  than  10  years  of  age  when  he  went  with  his  people 
in  the  Great  Trek.  His  family  had  for  some  generations 
held  a  leading  position  among  the  Cape  settlers.  Like 
many  of  the  founders  of  Dutch  families  in  South  Africa, 
the  original  ancestor,  so  far  as  South  Africa  is  concerned, 
of  the  President  of  the  Transvaal  went  to  the  Cape  in  the 
service  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Company.  Jacob  Kruger, 
the  son  of  Frans  Kruger  (whost  name  in  his  will  was 
spelled  "  Cruger"),  was  born  in  Berlin  in  the  year  1686, 
and  his  widowed  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Hart- 

119 


I20  PRESIDENT  KRUGER. 

wigs,  was  still  living  at  Sadenbeck,  in  the  Pottsdam  dis- 
trict, in  1726.  It  was  in  17 13  that  Jacob  -Kruger  took 
service  with  the  Dutch  East  India  Company,  in  what 
capacity  does  not  appear.  It  seems,  however,  to  have 
been  the  policy  of  the  company  to  attract  into  its  service 
capable  men,  irrespective  of  nationality — France,  Portu- 
gal, Holland,  Germany,  and  even  Scotland  contributing 
toward  the  consolidation  of  the  little  colony  under  the 
shadow  of  Table  Mountain — a  colony  regarded  by  the 
Dutch  then  as  it  has  been  regarded  by  the  English  since, 
as  forming  a  convenient  half-way  house  on  the  route  to 
India. 

Four  years  after  the  arrival  of  Jacob  Kruger  at  the 
Cape  he  married,  and  a  year  later — that  is,  in  17 18 — he 
successfully  claimed  from  the  company  the  right  of  bur- 
ghership  and  a  grant  of  land.  Five  sons  and  three 
daughters  were  born  to  Jacob  Kruger,  and  one  of  these, 
Hendrik,  the  sixth  child  and  fourth  son,  married  into  the 
Cloete  family,  still  one  of  the  oldest  and  best  known 
families  in  the  neighborhood  of  Cape  Town.  Hendrik's 
eldest  son,  Johannes  Jacob,  born  in  1748,  had  an  eldest 
son,  Hendrik,  whose  second  son,  Casper  Jan  Hendrik, 
born  in  1796,  married  one  of  the  Steyn  family  (to  which 
the  President  of  the  Free  State  belongs),  and  became,  in 
1825,  the  father  of  Stephanus  Johannes  Paulus  Kruger. 
Some  time  before  the  close  of  last  century  the  several 
families  of  Kruger  were  living  far  away  from  Cape  Town, 
in  what  was  then  the  extreme  northeasterly  district  of  the 
colony,  where,  according  to  existing  records,  they  occupied 
a  position  of  considerable  social  and  political  importance. 
Three  familes  of  Krugers  were  included  in  the  second 
party  of  "  Voortrekkers, "  consisting  of  farmers  from  the 
Tarka  and  Colesburg  districts  of  the  Cape  Colony,  who, 


PRESIDENT  KRUGER.  121 

in  1836,  made  a  start  into  the  wilderness  under  the 
leadership  of  Commandant  Andries  Hendrik  Potgieter. 

Proceeding  more  cautiously  than  the  Triechard  party, 
which  preceded  them,  and  which  had  hurried  on  toward 
the  semi-tropical  regions  that  now  form  the  northeastern 
districts  of  the  Transvaal,  the  Potgieter  party  were,  more 
disposed  to  study  the  resources  of  the  tableland  which  is 
now  known  as  the  Free  State.  Here,  in  return  for  a 
grant  of  land,  they  formed  an  alliance  with  the  chief 
Makwana,  who  saw  in  these  newcomers  valuable  allies 
against  the  oppression  of  the  great  chief  of  the  Matabele, 
Mosilikatze,  by  whom  the  whole  country  had  recently 
been  laid  waste  and  whose  headquarters  were  then  not 
far  from  the  modern  town  of  Zeerust,  in  the  western 
part  of  the  Transvaal.  In  their  ignorance  of  the  para- 
mountcy  claimed  by  Mosilikatze,  the  new  settlers  took  no 
trouble  to  secure  his  good  will.  The  consequence  of  this 
neglect  was  speedily  felt  in  the  massacre  by  the  Matabeles 
of  two  entire  hunting  parties,  while  another  detachment 
of  the  emigrants,  including,  there  is  reason  to  believe,  the 
boy  Paul  Krugcr,  only  succeeded  in  repulsing  a  Matabele 
attack  after  six  hours  of  hard  fighting. 

When  Paul  was  about  seventeen  years  of  age,  his 
father,  sister  and  he  went  with  the  bullock  team  some 
distance  into  the  Orange  Free  State.  The  senior  Kruger 
was  forced  to  remain,  and  told  Paul  to  take  the  team 
home  and  to  look  after  his  sister. 

"  I'll  take  care  of  her,  father,"  was  the  reply. 

Everything  went  well  until  Paul  and  his  sister  were 
about  five  miles  from  home.  Then  a  panther  appeared 
in  the  road.  The  sixteen  bullocks  in  the  team  took  fright 
and  ran  away.  The  jolting  of  the  crude  wagon  threw 
the  sister  from  the  seat  into  the  roadway,  where  she  was 


122  PRESIDENT  KRUGER. 

completely  at  the  mercy  of  the  panther.  Paul  at  once 
realized  her  danger,  and,  though  he  was  unarmed,  ran  to 
her  rescue.  The  panther  by  this  time  stood  with  gleam- 
ing eyes  over  the  girl.  Paul  tackled  the  panther  in  a 
hand-to-hand  battle.  It  was  a  fierce  struggle,  and,  as 
Kruger  himself  says,  he  believed  once  or  twice  that  the 
panther  was  going  to  prove  too  much  for  him.  But 
finally  he  got  a  hold  on  the  animal's  throat  and  literally 
choked  the  creature  to  death.  With  the  grit  of  a  bull- 
dog, Kruger  held  his  grasp  on  the  panther's  throat,  and 
only  released  it  when  the  animal  gave  up  its  struggle  in 
death. 

An  American  who  has  known  President  Kruger  for 
twenty  years,  says  of  him : 

"  It  was  in  the  latter  part  of  1879  that  I  first  had  the 
pleasure  of  meeting  Paul  Kruger.  He  was  then  a  man 
over  fifty  years  of  age,  but  as  strong,  erect  and  robust  as 
the  average  man  of  thirty-five.  He  seemed  to  possess 
the  strength  of  a  giant.  The  Boers  at  that  time  were  on 
the  verge  of  a  war  with  the  British.  When  I  was  intro- 
duced to  Kruger  he  was  suspicious  of  me,  and  it  was  only 
when  assured  that  I  was  an  American  that  he  became  at 
all  talkative.  In  those  days  Kruger  would  talk  English, 
but  since  the  visit  of  Sir  Henry  Lock  to  Pretoria,  in  1893, 
the  Transvaal  President  has  positively  refused  to  utter 
one  word  of  English. 

"The  Kruger  of  1879  was  a  poor  man,  he  had  diffi- 
culty in  supplying  his  family  with  the  necessities  of  life, 
for  besides  his  wife  he  had  ten  children  to  care  for.  He 
lived  then  in  a  humble  farmhouse,  but  he  left  the  farm  to 
care  for  itself,  for  he  had  a  more  important  matter  to 
attend  to — the  creation  of  a  revolution  against  the  Eng- 
lish.    General  P.  J.  Joubert,  the  now  commander  of  the 


PRESIDENT  KRUGER.  123 

Boer  forces  and  Vice-President  of  the  Transvaal,  young 
Pretorious,  son  of  the  country's  first  President,  and 
Kruger,  were  planning  for  the  Boer  uprising,  which  came 
the  following  year,  resulting  in  the  independence  of  the 
Boers  in  188 1. 

"The  next  time  I  met  Kruger  was  in  1894.  Although 
he  was  now  the  President  of  a  nation,  and  reputed  to  be 
worth  $5,000,000,  I  found  him  as  simple  and  as  demo- 
cratic as  he  was  in  the  days  of  1879,  when  he  was  unknown 
to  fame  and  had  hard  work  to  support  his  family.  It  was 
on  this  occasion  that  I  realized  the  great  qualities  of  this 
man.  He  cordially  invited  me  to  become  his  guest  dur- 
ing the  short  time  that  I  was  to  remain  in  Pretoria,  an 
invitation  which  I  readily  accepted.  He  would  not  talk 
English  to  me  on  this  occasion,  so  I  had  to  carry  on  my 
conversation  with  him  through  other  members  of  the 
family. 

' '  The  old  President  never  tired  of  talking  about  the 
United  States,  designating  this  republic  as  his  big  brother, 
and  wishing  that  he  were  in  a  position  to  make  a  treaty 
with  America  in  order  that  he  might  favor  our  merchants 
in  trade. 

"  '  I  can  trust  Americans, '  he  would  say,  '  for  I  know 
that  they  do  not  want  my  country. ' 

"  Before  I  left  his  residence  he  said  to  me  through  his 
secretary:  'When  you  go  home  to  the  United  States  tell 
the  people  there  for  me  that  there  is  a  small  nation  here, 
loving  their  country  and  their  liberty,  idolizing  the 
American  flag  and  the  free  institutions  of  your  country. 
May  the  United  States  ever  prosper  and  remain  true  to 
the  principles  established  by  her  founders  is  my  earnest 
wish. '  As  he  finished  talking  a  tear  was  seen  running 
down  the  old  man's  cheek. 


124  PRESIDENT  KRUGER. 

' '  He  often  talked  of  the  days  when  he  drove  his 
father's  old  bullock  team,  and  now  prides  'himself  on  the 
fact  that  he  is  still  able  to  crack  a  thirty-foot  whip  over 
sixteen  bullocks." 

It  would  be  impossible  to  find  a  man  who  is  a  better 
judge  of  human  nature  than  Kruger.  His  likes  or  dislikes 
are  spontaneous  with  him,  and  it  generally  turns  out  that 
his  first  impression  is  the  correct  one.  He  scrutinizes  a 
stranger  to  a  degree  that  is  embarrassing,^  as  he  does  all 
Britishers.  If  there  is  anything  about  a  person  which 
meets  with  the  old  President's  disapproval,  his  Secretary 
is  told  to  close  the  interview. 

The  home  life  of  Kruger  is  the  most  charming  imagin- 
able. What  is  here  written  of  it  is  from  experience. 
Kruger  is  devoted  to  his  wife,  children,  grand  and  great- 
grandchildren; while  they  in  turn  adore  him.  He  hves  in 
a  modest  house,  which  sets  back  from  the  sidewalk  about 
fifteen  feet.  There  is  a  grass  plot  in  front  and  a  sentry 
box  inside  of  the  iron  railing.  This  house  was  presented 
to  him  by  a  syndicate.  When  the  Volksraad  is  in  session 
a  soldier  is  stationed  in  front  of  the  President's  house, 
and  no  one,  excepting  officials,  is  permitted  to  enter  the 
residence  during  the  day,  unless  the  Secretary  authorizes 
the  sentry  to  pass  some  especial  person.  After  7  o'clock 
in  the  evening,  however,  all  are  welcome  to  the  Chief 
Executive's  home. 

Every  morning  at  6  o'clock  a  negro  servant  takes  a  cup 
of  black  coffee  and  a  big  pipe  filled  with  tobacco  to  the 
President's  room.  As  soon  as  he  has  drank  the  coffee 
Kruger  rises  and  smokes  the  pipe  while  he  is  dressing. 
He  is  downstairs  at  6:30  o'clock,  and  is  ready  to  read  the 
family  papeBs  at  7  o'clock.  Breakfast  is  served  about 
7:30  A.M.     His  morning  hours  are  taken  up  with  matters 


PRESIDENT  KRUGER.  125 

of  state  and  the  dictating  of  letters.  The  dinner  hour  is 
I  o'clock.  At  all  the  meals  Kruger  says  grace  before 
bread  is  broken.  He  takes  a  short  nap  after  the  noon 
meal,  and  is  ready  promptly  at  3  o'clock  to  receive  callers. 
The  supper  is  served  at  6  o'clock,  and  the  conclusion  of 
this  repast  ends  all  the  vvorriment  of  the  day  for  Kruger, 
.Many  writers  have  told  how  hot  cups  of  thick  black  cofifee 
are  served  at  frequent  intervals.  Every  person  received 
is  served  with  coffee.  Besides  his  salary  of  $40,000  a 
year,  Kruger  is  also  allowed  $  10,000  annually  for  coffee 
money.  There  is  a  two-gallon  kettle  of  coffee  always  hot 
in  the  kitchen.  Kruger  drinks  large  quantities  of  it. 
Most  of  his  day  is  spent  in  the  front  parlor.  He  always 
has  a  big  cuspidor  at  his  feet, .and  a  pouch  of  Transvaal 
tobacco  and  a  pipe  by  his  side. 

Since  Oom  Paul  was  elected  President  in  1881  he  has 
been  confronted  with  some  trying  times.  In  1883  his 
countr}'  was  in  a  bankrupt  condition.  There  was  but  one 
English  shilling  in  the  treasur3^  and  the  salaries  of  all 
officers,  from  the  President  down,  were  one  year  in  arrears. 
At  this  time  Kruger  found  it  extremely  hard  to  get 
along.  There  was  no  credit  to  be  had  for  the  country, 
and  Kruger  did  not  know  what  to  do.  It  looked  as  if  a 
famine  was  going'  to  overtake  the  land,  but  at  the  most 
critical  period  gold  was  found  in  the  Barberton  district. 
A  messenger  from  the  gold  fields  took  a  sack  of  gold  con- 
taining twenty  ounces  to  the  President,  presenting  it  to  him 
as  the  first  yield  of  gold  from  the  Transvaal.  Kruger  was 
astounded  when  he  saw  the  gold.  It  was  said  by  those 
present  that  his  eyes  doubled  in  size.  He  asked  where  it 
came  from,  and  was  infoirmed  that  it  was  from  the  Bar- 
berton district. 

"Is  there  any  more  leftT    asked  Kruger. 


126  PRESIDENT  KRUGER. 

He  was  told  that  the  country  was  rich  in  gold  ore,  and 
that  millions  of  pounds  could  be  secured  where  that  came 
from. 

"Thanic  God!     My  country  is  saved,"  was  the  reply. 

President  Kruger  has  been  twice  married.  His  first 
wife  was  a  Miss  Du  Plessis,  and  his  wife  at  this  writing 
is  a  niece  of  the  first  Mrs.  Kruger.  "Xante"  (Aunt) 
Kruger,  as  she  is  called,  is  a  sturdy  Dutch  housewife  of 
the  old  stamp — one  of  the  stock  who  in  the  old  laager 
days  loaded  the  rifles,  handing  them  to  the  men  who 
fought — ^yet  womanly  withal. 

In  appearance,  "Xante,"  who  is  ten  years  younger 
than  her  husband,  reminds  one  of  a  motherly  housekeeper 
of  the  good  old-fashioned  style.  Xhere  is  no  attempt  at 
"show "or  "fashion"  in  the  cut  of  her  clothes.  She 
hates  the  intrusive  Outlander  hke  a  true  Boer,  and  can't 
think  why  he  can't  stay  at  home  and  "mind  his  own 
business."  "We  don't  want  them — tell  them  to  trek!" 
she  has  been  heard  to  exclaim  defiantly  on  more  than  one 
occasion.  , 

When  recently  some  one  was  telling  '  *  Xante "  all 
about  the  "dum-dum"  bullets,  and  the  long  distance 
the  modern  rifles  could  reach — "  falling  right  behind  the 
kopjes  and  exploding  there" — "Xante"  was  silent  and 
thoughtful  for  a  moment.  She  soon  regained  her  usual 
cheerfulness,  replying,  in  brisk  tones:  "  Well,  then,  if 
they  fire  behind  the  kopjes,  the  only  thing  will  be  for  us 
to  sit  in  front. " 

On  returning  from  his  memorable  visit  to  England, 
the  President  brought  with  him,  among  other  European 
articles,  a  pair  of  pajamas!  Xhe  first  time  "Xante"  saw 
him  attired  in  these  new-fangled  garments  she  queried 
sharply,   "What's  that?"     "Sleeping  clothes  from  Eng- 


DR,  JAMESON. 


PRESIDENT  KRUGER.  129 

land,"  responded  Mr.  Kruger.  "Then  take  them  off! 
and  come  to  bed  in  your  veldtshoen, "  quoth  ' '  Tante, "  in 
tones  that  brooked  no  remonstrance  on  the  part  of  her 
spouse,  and  since  that  night  pajamas  have  not  been  seen 
or  mentioned  at  the  Presidency.  Veldtshoen  are  the 
boots  or  shoes  some  of  the  old-fashioned  Boers  still  sleep 
in,  a  survival  of  the  old  "  trek"  days. 

' '  Oom  Paul  "  and  ' '  Tante  "  Kruger  have  had  sixteen 
children,  seven  of  whom  are  living  at  this  writing.  One 
of  the  President's  sons  acts  as  his  father's  secretary. 


CHAPTER  IX. 
SAVAGE  WARS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

Dingaan,  the   Great  Zulu,  Defeated  by  the  Trekkers — The  Cittiwayo  and 
Lobengula  Rebellions — How  the  Black  Warrior  Fights. 

m.  WO  HISTORY  of  the  Boer-British  troubles  in 
i^'^^"y,  South  Africa  would  be  complete  without  at  least 
J^^^k^  a  general  reference  to  the  wars  between  the 
^  ^  savages  and  white  men  and  between  the  sav- 
ages themselves,  but  to  recount  them  in  detail  would 
require  many  volumes. 

Both  Boer  and  British  have  been  called  upon  at  inter- 
vals to  face  the  fierce  black  tribes,  from  the  date  of  their 
occupation  of  the  country  until  now.  The  most  powerful 
native  tribes  in  South  Africa  are  the  Zulus,  Kaffirs, 
Matabeles,  Basutos  and  Bechuans.  From  1833,  which 
marked  the  first  exodus  of  the  Boers  from  Cape  Colon}-, 
down  to  the  Matabele  rebellion  of  1893  the  natives  have 
seen  their  territory  wrested  from  them  by  both  Boer  and 
British.  To  the  credit  of  the  white  men,  be  it  said,  that 
they  often  sought  the  territory  by  purchase,  but  to  their 
great  discredit  it  must  be  recorded  that  they  took  by  force 
all  which  they  failed  to  obtain  by  fair  means. 

The  story  of  ' '  the  Great  Trek, "  when  the  Boers 
journeyed  to  their  present  lands,  is  one  long  series  of 
bloody  battles  with  the  natives.  One  of  the  first  great 
chiefs  to  succumb  to  their  power  was  Mosilikatze,  whose 
naked  army  was  utterly  routed  in  1837. 

130 


SAVAGE    WARS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA.  131 

The  Boers'  victory  over  the  great  chief,  Dingaan,  gave 
them  the  colony  of  Natal,  and  inasmuch  as  Dingaan's  Day 
is  a  Boer  holiday  equivalent  to  the  American  Fourth  of 
July,  a  brief  history  of  this  conquest  is  worth  narrating. 
Dingaan's  people  had  been  a  prey  to  neighboring  tribes, 
which  had  stolen  many  of  his  cattle.  The  Boers,  upon 
entering  Natal,  recovered  these  herds  and  drove  them  to 
Dingaan's  Kraal.  The  chief  received  his  white  visitors 
with  every  evidence  of  hospitality  and  friendship.  Dingaan 
ceded  them  all  the  territory  from  the  Tugela  to  the  Uru- 
zimvubu  River  and  from  Dragon  Mountain  to  the  sea. 

While  the  treaty  was  being  signed,  the  treacherous 
savage  chief  gave  a  signal  to  his  warriors — "Slay  the 
white  devils  " — and  the  entire  party  of  Boers  was  mass- 
acred. The  chief  then  set  out  to  annihilate  all  of  the 
Boer  settlers  and  many  blood}?  conflicts  ensued. 

The  most  spectacular  feature  of  the  Dingaan  war  was 
enacted  when  a  little  party  of  fourteen  Boers  were  be- 
sieged in  the  Dragon  Mountains  by  a  large  war  party  of 
Zulus.  Their  ammunition  became  exhausted,  and  they 
were  on  the  point  of  falling  into  the  hands  of  their  savage 
foes,  when  a  Boer  by  the  name .  of  Marthinus  Oosthuyse 
rode  upon  the  scene,  realized  the  situation  and  decided 
upon  a  plan  of  rescue.  He  rode  back  to  the  abandoned 
Boer  wagons,  loaded  himself  and  horse  with  ammunition 
and  rode  straight  through  the  Zulu  ranks  to  his  besieged 
brethren  in  their  hastily  constructed  laager.  It  is  a  story 
that  parallels  the  ride  of  Paul  Revere,  and  was  much  more 
hazardous  than  the  latter. 

In  the  spring  of  1838  a  considerable  Boer  force  was 
sent  against  JDingaan.  A  disastrous  battle  to  the  Zulus 
was  fought  near  the  King's  Palace,  but  the  final  blow  was 
not  struck  until  December  16  of  the  same  year.     On  that 


132  SAVAGE   WARS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

day  Dingaan's  army  of  12,000  was  almost  annihilated  by 
the  deadly  rifle  fire  of  the  Boers,  who  had  him  sur- 
rounded. 

It  was  the  end  of  Zulu  and  the  beginning  of  Boer 
supremacy  in  Natal,  and  December  16  was  made  a 
national  Boer  holiday  and  is  celebrated  to  this  day. 

The  principal  savage  wars  of  recent  date  were  the 
Zulu  uprising  of  1878  and  the  Matabele  war  of   1893. 

The  former  was  led  by  the  Zulu  chief,  Cittiwayo 
(sometimes  spelled  Cetewayo).  He  rebelled  against 
British  suzerainty  and  waged  one  of  the  bloodiest  cam- 
paigns ever  made  by  the  blacks  against  the  whites. 
Toward  the  close  of  the  contest  his  warriors  absolutely 
annihilated  a  British  regiment  at  Isandula  in  1879.  The 
same  year  he  was  defeated  and  captured. 

The  British  South  African  Company  secured  permis- 
sion from  Lobengula,  a  son  of  Mosilikatze  and  King  of 
the  Matabele,  to  settle  in  Mashonaland  and  exploit  its 
gold  mines.  Accordingly,  a  fort  was  built,  named  Fort 
Salisbury,  and  supplied  with  men,  arms  and  ammunition. 
When  all  was  secure  (in  1893)  the  British  deliberately 
provoked  the  Matabeles  to  war,  in  order  to  seize  their 
territory.  The  natives  were  mowed  down  like  grass  by 
the  Maxim  guns  of  the  white  enemy,  and  their  retreating 
impis  were  cut  to  pieces  by  the  cavalry.  The  decisive 
battle  of  the  war  was  fought  on  October  23,  about  thirty 
miles  from  BuluwayOi  Lobengula's  capital.  The  losses 
were:  Matabeles,  500;  British,  i.  The  British  captured 
the  Matabele  capital  and  Lobengula  fled,  but  the  wily 
savage  in  his  flight  set  a  trap  for  his  pursuers  and  killed 
an  entire  detachment. 

In  fighting,  both  Boer  and  Britisher  had  an  immeasur- 
able advantage  over  the  native,  by  possessing  repeating 


SAVAGE   WARS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA.  133 

firearms.  The  only  natives  in  South  Africa  who  can  use 
the  rifle  effectively  are  the  Basutos,  and  they  are  by  far 
the  most  intelligent  and  advanced  Negroes  living  in  that 
country.  The  ' '  assegai"  (spear)  and  stabbing  knife  are 
the  South  African  natives'  weapons.  Usually  they  are 
combined,  the  Kaffir,  at  close  quarters,  snapping  the 
handle  of  his  assegai  about  a  foot  from  the  blade,  thus 
transforming  it  into  a  dagger.  The  native,  when  he  gets 
as  close"  as  this,  is  by  no  means  an  enemy  to  be  despised, 
nor  is  he  to  be  contemned  when  further  off.  Trained 
from  infancy  to  the  use  of  the  assegai,  he  becomes,  when 
matured,  singularly  adept. 

Let  us  look  at  the  Zulus'  mode  of  fighting  for  a  mo- 
ment. I  have  to  state,  in  passing,  that  the  most  perfect 
specimens  of  humanity  are  to  be  found  among  the  Zulu 
race.  A  young  Zulu  man  or  girl  taken  at  random  would 
serve  for  a  sculptor's  model.  In  constant  activity,  living 
almost  entirely  in  the  open  air,  emulating  his  pomrades  in 
athletic  ex^cises  and  feats  of  daring,  tall,  supple,  sinewy 
and  muscular,  the  young  Zulu  warrior  is  the  ideal  of 
manly  vigor  and  symmetrical  form.  He  rejoices  in  his 
manhood  and  prides  himself  on  his  color.  Ask  a  Zulu  which 
he  considers  the  most  beautiful  complexion,  and  he  will 
proudly  answer,  ' '  Black,  like  myself,  with  a  little  red. " 
This  combative  Adonis  was  at  one  time  the  terror  of 
South  Africa. 

The  Zulu  dynasty  was  founded  by  Chaka,  who  came 
with  his  followers  from  the  interior  of  thfe  continent. 
Had  he  been  white,  he  would  go  down  to  history  side  by 
side  with  Cromwell  and  Napoleon.  Hq  overran  and  com- 
pletely subjugated  every  tribe  in  Southern  Africa.  His 
name  is  still  spoken  with  deep  reverence  by  the  Zulus 
and  with  trembling  awe   by   the  other   natives.      Chaka 


134  SAVAGE    WARS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

was  extremely  liberal  to  bravery  among  his  followers  and 
inexorable  to  cowardice.  When  he  ordered  his  warriors 
to  charge,  no  matter  against  what  odds,  there  was  no 
choice  but  to  press  onward.  There  was  a  chance  of  life, 
however  small,  in  advancing,  but  retreat  meant  certain 
death;  if  the  wavering  Zulu  was  not  immediately  speared 
by  the  warrior  behind  him,  he  would  most  inevitably 
meet  death  by  command  of  his  king  after  the  battle. 
For  showing  the  white  feather,  Chaka  has  been  known 
to  order  a  whole  regiment  to  execution  at  the  hands  of 
their  comradCvS.  This  enforced  intrepidity  made  the 
Zulus  perfect  fire-eaters,  and  their  repeated  successes 
so  intimidated  the  tribes  they  had  not  engaged  with  that 
most  of  them  surrendered  at  discretion.  A  Zulu  fights 
with  a  hide  shield  and  assegais,  having  in  his  possession 
perhaps  twelve  of  the  latter,  which  he  throws  in  such  rapid 
succession  from  opposite  directions,  springing  with  won- 
derful agility  from  side  to  side  as  he  throws,  that  the  air 
seems  literally  full  of  the  glittering  spears. 

It  was  against  this  foe  that  both  Boer  and  Britisher 
fought  in  1878-79,  and  it  has  always  been  England's  con- 
tention that  the  Boers  would  have  been  annihilated, 
except  for  the  British  victories  of  Lord  Chelmsford  over 
the  Zulus  and  their  allies  the  Kaffirs. 

In  the  history  of  South  Africa  the  Basutos  share 
honors  with  the  Zulus.  The  two  races  are  termed  the 
Normans  of  the  south.  Yet  in  power,  ferocity  and 
cruelty,  the  Basutos  are  no  match  for  the  Zulus.  They 
owe  their  honors  more  to  intelligence  and  craft  than 
force.      They  are  weaker,  yet  the  harder  enemy  to  beat. 

They   arose  from   the   remnants  of    the    many  tribes 

dispersed  and  nearly  obliterated  by  the  Zulus  in  a  fierce 

•carnival  of  outrages  and  slaughter  in  the  beginning  of  the 


SAVAGE    WARS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA.  135 

century.  Nothing  in  history  compares  with  the  ferocity 
and  cruelty  of  those  early  Zulu  wars.  For  hundreds  of 
miles  in  all  directions  the  forests  were  cleared  of  inhabit- 
ants. The  few  who  escaped  were  driven  north  and  south 
to  meet  new  enemies  and  fly  back  upon  the  assegais  of 
the  Zulus.  Out  of  hundreds  of  thousands,  hundreds 
only  escaped,  and  these  hundreds,  the  survivors  of  many 
tribes,  were  the  beginning  of  the  Basutos. 

They  found  refuge  at  Thaba  Bosigo,  and  there  a 
young  man  of  humble  birth,  Moshesh  by  name,  organized 
them,  ruled  them,  brought  them  through  danger  and  death, 
not  by  force  but  by  cunning,  and  eventually  made  them 
a  great  and  powerful  tribe.  The  name  of  Moshesh  is 
revered  to-day.  When  in  doubt  the  chiefs  of  the  Basutos 
meet  and  solemoly  ask,  "What  would  Moshesh  do  if  he 
were  alive?  "     And  wisdom  generally  rules. 

When  the  Boers  entered  Natal  and  there  made  a 
stand  against  English  interference,  the  Basutos  were  a 
factor  in  the  quarrel.  Pretorians  were  beaten  and  Natal 
seized  by  the  British.  The  Boers  refused  to  stay  and 
retreated  to  the  Orange  River  country,  where  they  again 
set  up  their  republican  government.  This  gave  great 
offense  to  England,  and  it  was  determined  to  erect  a 
barrier  of  native  tribes  between  them  and  civilization, 
with  the  purpose  of  forcing  their  return.  Moshesh  and 
his  Basutos  were  the  principal  of  these  native  states. 
Sovereign  rij^hts  were  granted  him  over  a  large  tract 
north  of  the  Orange  River,  and  he  was  paid  a  subsidy. 
He  was  thus  in  control  of  the  new  land  occupied  by  the 
Boers. 

But  the  plan  failed.  The  Boers  laughed  at  native 
sovereigns.  They  remained  where  they  were  and  gov- 
erned themselves.     Wars  sprang  up.'    The  whole  sitiia- 


136    ■        SAVAGE    WARS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

tion  was  impossible,  and  when  Sir  Harry  Smith  arrived 
he  determined  to  break  up  the  native  states.  Incident- 
ally he  annexed  the  Orange  River  district,  Boers  and  all, 
to  the  British  dominions.  And  thus  do  we  get  a  glimpse 
of  that  early  hounding  of  the  Boer  by  the  Briton  that 
bore  fruit  in  1881  and  1899. 

Moshesh  agreed  and  the  farmers  fought  and  were 
beaten.  Again,  rather  than  submit  to  British  rule,  many 
of  them  retreated  ' '  trans- Vaal, "  across  the  Vaal.  The 
English  did  not  follow  the  trans-Vaal  emigrants,  but  they 
held  sway  in  the  Orange  River  territory  until  the  Basutos 
took  a  hand.  Moshesh  had  never  been  satisfied  with  the 
relinquishment  of  sovereignty  forced  by  Sir  Harry  Smith. 
He  now  resolved  to  get  it  back.  To  this  end  he  made 
war — not  with  the  British,  but  some  neighboring  tribes. 
The  British  took  the  bait  and  sent  a  force  to  compel 
order,  an  offense  not  only  to  Moshesh  but  to  the  Boer 
farmers  who  still  remained.     Moshesh  was  very  shrewd. 

The  Boers  sent  for  Commandant  Pretorius,  who  had 
gone  across  the  Vaal  with  a  price  on  his  head,  and  the 
Basutos  made  common  cause  with  them.  The  British 
were  beaten,  and  in  1852  the  Boers,  with  the  help  of  the 
Basutos,  forced  a  treaty  (the  Sand  River  Treaty  referred 
to  in  Chapter  I.)  with  England,  acknowledging  their  inde- 
pendence. 

Beaten  by  the  Boers,  the  British  pushed  the  war  against 
the  Basutos.  Sir  John  Cathcart  led  an  army  against 
Moshesh.  The  Basuto  chieftain  retired  to  his  strong- 
hold and  left  a  great  herd  of  cattle  on  a  convenient  plain 
as  a  bait.  The  British  drove  off  four  thousand  head  and 
found  themselves  in  an  ambush.  The)^  were  badly 
defeated  with  great  loss. 

Then  Moshesh  proved  his  genius.     He  sent  a  note  to 


SAVAGE   IVARS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA.  137 

the  defeated  British  commander  in  which  he  deferentially 
begged  peace. 

"You  have  captured  our  herds,"  he  said.  "You 
have  chastised  us.  Let  it  be  enough.  I  entreat  peace 
from  you."  The  British  army  marched  triumphantly 
home  and  the  Basutos  celebrated  with  much  feasting. 

But  the  victory  of  the  Basutos  decided  the  English 
about  that  troublesome  Orange  River  country.  With 
wily  Moshesh  holding  the  balance  of  power  they  were 
overmatched.  The  Boers  saw  their  position  and  pressed 
their  independence.  In  1854  England  acknowledged 
their  independence,  and  the  Orange  Free  State  of  to-day 
came  into  existence.     The  Basutos  did  it. 

Four  years  later  the  Boers  and  the  Basutos  warred. 
The  question  was  one  of  boundary.  The  Basuto  horsemen 
made  frightful  ravages  among  the  Boer  farms.  Battles 
were  fought,  ambushes  laid.  But  in  the  end  the  Boers 
conquered,  and  the  Basutos  lost  much  splendid  farm 
land.  But  the  victory  was  won  only  with  British  aid, 
and  in  the  end  the  Basutos  found  themselves  British 
subjects. 

And  so  they  remain  at  this  writing,  prosperous,  civi- 
lized, self-governing  in  a  large  measure,  and  envious  of 
those  fair  acres  that  once  were  theirs,  and  now  are  the 
property  of  the  republics. 

Their  present  chief  is  Lerothodi,  a  brave  man  and 
skillful  warrior.  His  home  is  a  mountain  cave,  whose 
walls  are  pictured  with  hunting  scenes  and  battles.  No 
small  skill  is  shown  in  these  drawings,  in  all  of  which  the 
Basuto  warriors  are  pictured  as  shapely  men  and  their 
enemies  hideous  impossibilities.  Their  mountains  are 
full  of  great  caves,  utilized  as  armories,  forts  and  hid- 
ing-places.    Their  capital  is  Thaba  Bosigo,  an  impreg- 


13S  SAVAGE    WARS  IN  SOUTH  AFRICA. 

nable  mountain  stronghold,  often  assaulted  but  never 
taken.  There  is  no  securer  retreat  in  all  Africa  than 
this. 

The  Bechuanas  are   darker,    less  tall  and  brave,  but 
more  progressive  than  the  Zulus. 


# 


'  CHAPTER  X. 
FIRST  SHOT  IN  THE  WAR  OF  '99. 

Kraaipari  Siding  the   Scene  of    the   First    Engagement — Boers  Capture  an 
Armored  Train — The  Battle  of  Glencoe. 


HE  EXPIRATION  of  President  Kruger's  ultima- 
tum on  October  1 1  found  England  unprepared 
to  wage  aggressive  warfare. 

The  position  of  the  two  combatants  in  South 
Africa  at  that  time  may  be  summed  up  as  follows:  In  Natal 
England  had  about  10,000  regulars,  the  greater  number  of 
whom  had  recently  arrived  from  India,  and  who  were, 
therefore,  in  no  state  to  undertake  immediate  movements; 
horses  and  men  required  a  week  to  get  into  good  condi- 
tion. In  Cape  Colony  were  from  3,000  to  4,000  British 
regulars,  very  much  scattered.  At  Mafeking  was  a 
British  irregular  force  under  Colonel  Baden-Powell,  num- 
bering about  2,000;  at  Kimberley  a  certain  number  of 
Cape  volunteers  and  local  troops;  and  in  Natal  from  a 
thousand  upwards  of  volunteers  and  Colonial  troops. 
Against  this  force  the  Transvaal  had  some  8,000  men, 
with  artillery,  close  to  the  northernmost  angle  of  the 
Natal  frontier,  and  the  Orange  Free  State  from,  4,000  to 
5,000  men — if  so  many — close  to  the  passes  which  lead 
through  the  Drakensburg  range  into  Natal.  At  Komati 
Poort,  on  the  Delagoa  Bay  Railway,  the  Transvaal  had  a 
small  commando — probably  not  over  1,000  men.  On  the 
western  frontier  was  Cronje,  threatening  Mafeking  with  a 

139 


I40  FIRST  SHOT  IN  THE    WAR   OF  'gg. 

force  which  may  have  been  anything  from  3,000  to  6,000, 
and  thence  southward,  along  the  vast  sweep  of  western 
frontier,  between  Mafeking  and  BethuHe,  were  small 
bodies  totalling  at  the  outside  3,000  or  4,000  men.  The 
combined  armies  of  the  Orange  Free  State  and  Transvaal 
would  then  amount  to  about  20,000,  if  we  accept  the 
lower  estimates. 

On  October  1 1  Laing's  Nek,  the  famous  scene  of  Boer- 
British  hostilities  in  1881,  was  occupied  by  Transvaal 
Boers. 

On  the  following  day  the  Boers  crossed  the  western 
border  in  force  about  40  miles  south  of  Mafeking.  On 
the  evening  of  that  day  the  first  shot  in  the  Boer-British 
war  of  1899  was  fired.  It  came  from  or  was  directed  at— 
it  matters  not  which — an  armored  train  carrying  two 
7-pounder  guns  and  some  ammunition  from  Vryburg  to 
Mafeking.  At  Kraaipan — where  the  Boers  crossed  the 
western  border — they  tore  up  the  rails  and  retiring  placed 
guns  to  command  the  gap  in  the  line.  The  armored 
train  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Nesbitt  with  a  force 
of  about  twenty  Colonial  troops  and  refugees.  It  was 
derailed  in  due  course,  and  made  an  artillery  target  by 
the  Boers.  Lieutenant  Nesbitt's  little  party  responded 
bravely,  but  continued  resistance  was,  of  course,  hopeless, 
and  ultimately  the  Boers  rode  in  and  captured  the  men 
and  ammunition,  the  engine-driver  alone  contriving  to 
escape  into  the  veldt. 

The  train  had  run  from  Mafeking  to  Vryburg  as  pro- 
tection for  a  relief  train,  which  was  conveying  300  women, 
children,  and  other  non-combatants  to  safety.  The 
soldiers  on  board  were  of  Colonel  Baden-Powell's  com- 
mand, with  headquarters  at  Mafeking. 

At  Vryburg  the  relief  train  was  turned  over  to  the  Cape 


FIRST  SHOT  IN   THE    WAR   OF  'pp.  141 

railway  officials,  who  assumed  responsibility  for  the  safety 
of  the  refugees.  It  was  thought  at  first  that  this  was  the 
train  that  had  been  destroyed,  but  it  subsequently  reached 
Kimberley  without  mishap. 

Separately  considered  this  engagement  is  of  trifling 
importance,  but  it  has  the  historical  value  of  being  the 
first  engagement  of  the  war  and  was  significant  as 
marking  the  isolation  of  British  Bechuanaland  and 
Rhodesia. 

This  action  was  followed  on  the  part  of  the  Boers  by 
the  investment  of  Mafeking  in  Bechuanaland,  Kimberley 
in  Cape  Colony  and  Ladysmith  in  Natal,  the  British  hav- 
ing evacuated  Newcastle,  falling  back  on  Dundee. 

There  were  numerous  skirmishes  along  the  frontiers 
and  sorties  from  the  besieged  points,  but  the  first  actual 
battle  was  fought  at  Glencoe.  One  Boer  column,  under 
Joubert,  with  Vilgoen  commanding  the  center,  and  the 
artillery  came  from  the  north,  while  troops  from  the 
Orange  Free  State  poured  into  Natal  through  Van 
Reenen's  and  Tintwa  passes. 

Gen.  Sir  George  Stewart  White,  commanding  the 
British  forces  in  Natal,  had  advanced  a  column  from 
Ladysmith  under  Gen.  Sir  WilHam  Penn  Symons,  who 
established  his  little  army  of  4,000  men  half-way  between 
Glencoe  and  Dundee  in  order  to  protect  both  towns. 

The  night  of  October  19  was  a  busy  one  for  General 
Symons'  troops,  and  his  pickets  were  exchanging  shots 
all  night  with  the  pickets  of  the  Boer  commandos. 
During  the  night  the  Boers  intrenched  themselves  on 
Talana  Hill  ov^looking  Glencoe  camp.  The  seizure  of 
this  position  was  a  surprise  to  the  British,  who  did  not  dis- 
cover the  Boer  movements  until  a  shell  boomed  into  their 
camp  at  daybreak.     Then  the  shells  came  fast.     The  hill 


142  FIRST  SHOT  IN   THE   WAR   OF  'pp. 

was  positively  alive  with  the  swarming  Boers,  still  the 
British  artillery  got  to  work  with  magnificent  energy  and 
precision.  The  batteries  from  the  camp  took  up  posi- 
tions to  the  south  of  the  town,  and  after  a  quarter  hour's 
firing  silenced  the  guns  on  the  hills. 

Shells  dropped  among  the  Boer  pieces  with  remark- 
able accuracy  and  tremendous  execution.  By  this  time 
the  Boers  held  the  whole  of  the  hill  behind  Smith's  farm 
and  the  Dundee  kopje,  right  away  to  the  south,  in  which 
direction  the  British  infantry  and  cavalry  moved  at  once. 

The  fighting  raged  particulary  hot  along  the  valley 
beyond  Glencoe.  Directly  the  Boer  guns  ceased  firing. 
General  Symons  ordered  the  infantry  to  move  on  the 
position. 

The  weather  was  fine  and  clear,  the  sun  was  shining 
bright  and  it  was  warm.  The  men  cast  aside  their  heavy 
clothing  and  prepared  for  the  hot  work  ahead. 

The  Boer  army,  massed  on  the  hill,  was  sheltered 
behind  a  slope  from  the  artillery  fire,  but  as  soon  as  they 
saw  the  preparations  for  an  advance  they  formed  in 
extended  line  of  battle.  The  ground  between  the  camp 
and  the  hill  is  a  rolling  plain,  which  offered  no  shelter  for 
the  British  as  they  dashed  across. 

Under  the  cover  of  a  heavy  artillery  fire  the  British 
troops  marched  out  of  the  camp.  The  King's  Rifles  and 
the  Dublin  Fusiliers  led  the  way  in  extended  ord^r. 

They  had  to  pass  over  an  open  plain  800  yards  wide, 
and  then  got  into  the  forest  belt,  which  is  200  yards  deep. 
They  advanced  by  rushes  to  the  edge,  where,  only  750 
yards  from  the  summit  beyond,  they  fouqd  a  wall  and  a 
donga,  along  which  meanwhile  the  Boer  rifle  fire  was 
fiercest.  The  march  across  the  open  was  deadly,  the 
Boer  musketry  doing  deadly  execution  at  every  step. 


FIRST  SHOT  IN   THE    WAR   OF  'gg.  143 

To  assist  the  stormers  the  infantry,  cavalry,  and 
Maxims  from  the  near  forest  on  the  right  opened  fire 
upon  the  Boers  crowning  the  crest.  The  batteries  were 
still  pounding  away  at  them  at  8  a.  m.  when  General 
Symons  and  his  staff  rode  over  the  open  plain,  and  when 
the  whole  Boer  fire  was  apparently  directed  against  them. 
General  Symons  bade  the  infantry  push  ahead,  directing 
their  movement.  By  rushes  about  150  of  the  King's 
Royal  Rifles  got  within  150  yards  of  the  summit,  securing 
cover  behind  the  stone  wall.  To  this  the  advanced  party 
beckoned  to  the  others  to  come  up,  but  some  delay 
occurred.  Finally,  at  10:30,  they  were  reinforced  by  150 
comrades. 

At  12:15  p.  M.  the  British  guns  opened  fire  from  the 
northeast  of  Dundee  upon  Talana.  After  one  hour's 
shelling  of  the  crest  a  small  body  of  mixed  infantry 
charged  upon  the  summit  among  the  Boers,  who  retreated. 
Several  of  the  British  soldiers  were  struck  down  by  one  of 
their  own  shells. 

Thereafter  the  whole  position  was  carried,  but  the 
Boers  retreated  in  such  good  order  that  only  eleven 
prisoners  were  taken  upon  the  hill  top,  two  of  whom  were 
Englishmen. 

The  Boers  got  away  their  guns,  but  left  behind  some 
ammunition,  a  number  of  horses  and  saddlery,  and  a  few 
stores. 

Whilst  in  an  open  part  near  the  edge  of  the  wood 
Major-General  Symons  fell,  shot  through  the  stomach, 
and  later  died  of  the  wound. 

When  General  Symons  fell,'  Brigadier-General  J.  H. 
Yule  took  command.  Only  two  officers  of  General 
Symons'  staff  escaped  injury. 

The  Boers  losses  in  'killed  and  wounded  were  about 


144  FIRST  SHOT  IN  THE   WAR  OF  'pp. 

200.  The  British  lost  41  killed,  188  wounded,  and  a 
squadron  of  the  Eighteenth  Hussars  and  a  number  of 
officers  of  the  Royal  Dublin  Fusiliers  and  King's  Royal 
Rifles  captured. 

The  capture  of  the  Hussars  was  made  after  the  battle 
and  at  a  time  when  the  British  were  claiming  a  victory. 
The  following  is  the  official  account  of  the  capture,  as 
related  by  Captain  Hardy: 

After  the  battle  three  squadrons  of  the  Eighteenth  Hussars, 
with  one  Maxim,  a  company  of  the  Dublin  Fusiliers,  a  section  of 
the  Sixtieth  Rifles,  and  the  mounted  infantry,  Colonel  Moeller 
commanding,  kept  under  cover  of  the  ridge  to  the  north  of  the 
camp,  and  at  6:30  moved  down  the  Sand  Spruit.  On  reaching 
the  open  the  force  was  shelled  by  the  enemy,  but  there  were  no 
casualties.  Colonel  Moeller  took  his  men  round  the  Talana  Hill, 
in  a  southeasterly  direction,  crossed  theVant's  Drift  road,  cap- 
tured several  Boers,  and  saw  the  Boer  ambulances  retiring.  Col- 
onel Moeller,  with  the  B  squadron  of  the  Hussars,  a  Maxim,  and  the 
mounted  infantry,  crossed  the  Dundee-Vryheid  railway  and  got 
near  a  big  force  of  the  enemy,  who  opened  a  hot  fire,  and  Lieu- 
tenant M'Lachland  was  hit.  The  cavalry  retired  across  Vant's 
Drift,  1,500  Boers  following.  Colonel  Moeller  held  the  ridge  for 
some  time,  but  the  enemy  enveloping  his  right  he  ordered  the 
force  to  fall  back  across  the  Spruit.  The  Maxim  got  fixed  in  a 
donga  (water  hole).  Lieutenant  Cope  was  wounded,  three  of 
his  detachment  were  killed,  and  the  horses  of  Major  Greville  and 
Captain  Pollok  were  shot.  The  force  re-formed  on  a  ridge  north 
of  Sand  Spruit  and  held  it  for  a  short  time.  While  Captain 
Hardy  was  attending  to  Lieutenant  Crum,  who  was  wounded, 
Colonel  Moeller  retired  his  force  into  a  defile,  apparently  with 
the  intention  of  returning  to  camp  round  the  Impati  Mountain, 
and  was  not  seen  afterwards, 

Although  the  British  had  captured  the  Boer  position 
on  Dundee  Hill,  they  were  compelled  to  evacuate  it  after 
the  battle  of  Elandslaagte. 


CHART  OF  KIMBERLEY  RELIEF  CAMPAIGN. 


CHAPTER  XI. 
BATTLES  OF  ELANDSLAAGTE  AND  REITFONTEIN. 

They  are  Fought  to  Cover  the  Retreat  of  the  Dundee  Garrison  to  Ladysmith 
— Gallant  Charges  Result  in  Heax'y  British  Losses. 

HE  BOERS  had  planned  an  enveloping  movement 
to  capture  Glencoe,  and  operated  in  three 
columns.  One  fought  the  battle  of  Glencoe, 
another  appeared  during  the  battle  and  fell 
back,  while  the  third  took  up  a  strong  position  at  Elands- 
laagte  near  the  railway  from  Glencoe  to  Ladysmith. 
This  latter  was  about  1,000  strong,  composed  of  Johan- 
nesburgers,  and  commanded  by  General  John  N.  Kock, 
second  in  command  of  the  Transvaal  army. 

General  White  resolved  to  give  battle  and  engaged 
General  Kock's  commando  on  October  21,  1899..  The 
British  troops  in  action  at  Elandslaagte  were  as  follows: 

Cavalry — Fifth  Lancers,  a  squadron  of  the  Fifth  Dra- 
goon Guards,  the  Imperial  Light  Horse  and  two  squad- 
rons of  Natal  Carbineers. 

Artillery — Twenty-first  Field  Battery,  Forty-second 
Field  Battery  and  the  Natal  Field  Battery. 

Infantry — The  Devonshire  regiment,  half  a  battalion 
of  the  Gordon  Highlanders  and  the  Manchester  regi- 
ment. 

The  whole  force  was  under  Major-General  John  H. 
B.  iFrench,  with  Colonel  Ian  Hamilton  commanding  the 
infantry.     General  White  was  present  in  person  from  3:30 

9  147 


14^  BATTLES  OF  RLANDSLAAGTE 

p.  M.  to  6:30  P.  M.,  but  did  not  assume  direction  of  the 
fight. 

Although  desultory  fighting  took  place  earlier  in  the 
day  while  British  reinforcements,  sent  out  later  on  ascer- 
taining the  Boers'  strength,  were  arriving  from  Lady- 
smith,  the  real  action  did  not  begin  until  3 130  p.  m.  At 
that  hour  the  Boers  held  a  position  of  very  exceptional 
strength,  consisting  of  a  rock  hill  about  a  mile  and  a  half 
southeast  of  Elandslaagte  station. 

The  British  artillery  was  on  the  right,  the  infantry  in 
the  center,  and  the  cavalry  on  the  left.  This  order  was 
maintained  till  the  attacking  force  was  about  4,000  yards 
from  the  Boer  position. 

The  British  guns  opened  fire  and  the  Boers  replied 
promptly  and  effectively.  After  an  artillery  duel  at  long 
range  the  British  guns  advanced,  and  the  Gordon  High- 
landers and  the  Imperial  Light  Horse  made  a  detour  with 
the  object  of  taking  the  Boers  on  their  right  flank.  The 
Devonshire  and  Manchester  regiments  then  began  the 
frontal  attack,  and  the  engagement  became  general. 
Thrice  were  the  Boer  batteries  silenced,  but  the  Boers 
fought  with  great  pluck  and  determination,  returning  each 
time  and  raining  shrapnel  and  Maxim  bullets  against  the 
advancing  foe.  The  Boers  concentrated  theit  fire  on 
the  frontal  advance  of  the  infantry,  and  both  the  Devon- 
shire and  Manchester  men  suffered  severely.  Meanwhile 
the  Gordons  and  the  Light  Horse  got  round  the  Boer 
right  flank  and  had  driven  them  in  on  their  main  posi- 
tion. Two  separate  charges  were  then  made  with  great 
brilliancy. 

At  4  o'clock  a  tremendous  artillery  duel  was  in  prog- 
ress. Two  Boer  guns,  splendidly  placed,  were  stub- 
bornly fought  for  two  hours  and  a  quarter,  while  mounted 


AND  REITFONTEIN.  149 

Boers  endeavored  to  come  into  contact  with  their  assailants 
on  the  left  and  on  the  right. 

Then,  at  6:15  p.  m.,  the  Devonshire  regiment,  half  of 
Gordon  Highlanders,  half  the  Manchester  regiment  and 
the  Imperial  Light  Horse  advanced  on  the  position  and 
stormed  the  Boer  front.  A  bayonet  charge  was  sounded 
as  the  roar  of  artillery  on  both  sides  suddenly  ceased,  and 
the  British,  with  the  Devonshires  leading,  made  a  superb 
dash  against  the  main  body  of  the  Boers,  undaunted  by 
facing  a  fearful  fire. 

Twice  were  they  checked  by  the  terrible  fusillade. 
Once  the  advance  quivered  for  a  moment,  but  then,  with 
ringing,  roaring  cheers,  the  whble  force  hurled  itself 
forward  like  an  avalanche  and  swept  over  the  kopjes, 
capturing  the  Boer  position  and  the  two  Boer  guns  which 
had  made  such  stubborn  resistance. 

The  conduct  of  the  Gordon  Highlanders  was  particu- 
larly brilliant,  but  they  suffered  terribly.  They  entered  the 
fight  425  strong  and  lost  115.  Only  three  of  their  officers 
escaped.  The  Light  Horse  entered  with  240  and  lost  48, 
including  their  colonel,  Scott  Chisholme.  The  High- 
landers testified  to  the  bravery  of  the  Boers,  saying  that 
the  storming  of  Dargia  Heights  was  child's  play  compared 
with  Elandslaagte. 

The  battle  was  in  its  details  a  repetition  of  Glencoe. 
There  was  the  same  artillery  duel;  the  same  infantry 
assault;  the  same  cavalry  pursuit.  The  British  losses 
were  35  killed  and  222  wounded.  The  Boer  loss  was 
unknown,  but  the  British  claim  it  reached  300  in  killed, 
wounded  and  prisoners. 

General  Kock,  the  Boer  commander,  was  among  the 
prisoners.  He  was  severely  wounded  when  captured,  and 
died  soon   thereafter.      Another   important  capture  wa§ 


ISO  BATTLES   OF  ELANDSLAAGTE 

Colonel  Adolf  Schiel,  a  former  German  officer  who  com- 
manded the  Boer  artillery.  A  son  of  General  Joubert 
was  captured;  like  Kock,  he  was  badly  wounded  and  died 
soon  after  he  had  been  made  a  prisoner. 

As  historians  have  had  to  rely  almost  wholly  upon 
English  reports  and  newspapers  for  the  details  of  engage- 
ments, the  following  account  of  the  battle  of  Elandslaagte 
by  a  Dutch  volunteer  who  was  taken  prisoner  is  of  special 
interest: 

PlETERMARITZBURG,   Octobcr  25,    1899. 

This  letter  having  to  be  read  by  the  authorities,  I  only  tell 
you  what  has  happened  to  me  since  Friday,  October  20.  On 
this  day  about  600  men  arrived  at  Elandslaagte,  about  two  hours 
from  Ladysmith.  The  day  before  we  took  a  train  with  provisions 
and  a  military  escort,  and  now  I  had  to  go  with  nine  others, 
amongst  them  the  lawyer,  Dr.  Coster,  to  break  up  the  railway 
at  three  different  places.  The  destruction  of  the  railway  was  close 
near  the  station  at  Modder  Spruit,  the  first  station  from  Lady- 
smith,  where  the  chief  forces  of  the  enemy  were  gathered.  We 
4id  this  dangerous  work  without  being  disturbed.  The  following 
day  being  Saturday,  October  21,  being  still  nine  in  number,  we 
still  received  no  reinforcements;  nevertheless  we  broke  up  the 
communication  between  two  strong  divisions.  At  seven  o'clock 
in  the  morning  we  saddled  our  horses,  as  the  enemy  was  noticed, 
and  the  first  shells  began  to  fall  between  us,  doing  no  harm.  I 
was  glad  to  see  that  all  the  men  kept  extremely  calm.  All  the 
shells  fell  in  the  laager  of  the  Dutch  Volunteer  Corps,  which 
numbered  then  ninety-eight  men  on  horseback.  Only  our  two 
guns  answered,  and  as  we  advanced  the  enemy  disappeared.  We 
removed  afterwards  our  laager  a  little.  Two  cars  with  our  lug- 
gage and  tents  had  just  arrived.  Immediately  we  saddled  again, 
as  the  enemy  was  seen  advancing  in  great  numbers.  We  drove 
up  a  kopje,  dismounted  on  a  place  where  the  horses  were  safe, 
climbed  the  hill,  and  there  we  waited — viz. :  60  Germans,  98 
Dutchmen,  300  Afrikaflders  from  Fordsburg  and  Johannesburg 
— on  the  enemy,  numbering  4,000  men.  The  enemy  brought  on 
two  batteries  with  twelve  guns,  three  regiments  infantry,  3,000 


AND  REITFONTEIN.  151 

men,  one  regiment  lancers,  one  regiment  light  and  one  regiment 
heavy  cavalry.  I  can't  tell  the  strength  of  the  mounted  men, 
but  the  infantry  amounted  .to  3,000  men.  The  artillery  began 
with  shelling  heavily  our  two  poor  guns,  and  from  time  to  time  a 
shell  burst  in  our  neighborhood.  After  twenty  minutes  one  of 
our  poor  guns  was  disabled;  in  the  meantime  we  opened  our 
musketry  fire  on  the  advancing  infantry,  which  fired  heavily. 
In  these  moments  the  greater  part  of  the  men  of  Fordsburg 
and  Johannesburg  retreated,  notwithstanding  our  commander 
shouted  out:  "Stay,  fellows,  stay;  all  my  Dutchmen  are  still 
here."  The  advancing  infantry  opened  a  heavy  fire  on  our 
remaining  300  men.  I  fired  lying  down  on  the  ground,  and 
resolved,  as  I  lost  view  of  the  advancing  enemy,  to  wait  till  I 
should  see  them  again,  and  had  a  sharp  look  round.  I  saw 
nothing  but  killed  men,  the  others  having  retreated  without  my 
perceiving  it,  through  the  heavy  noise  of  the  bursting  shells. 
The  only  men  in  my  neighborhood  were  lying  behind  me.  I 
kept  waiting,  while  some  shells  covered  me  with  mud.  At  last' 
the  artillery  stopped  firing,  and  I  understood  that  the  infantry 
had  reached  the  top  of  the  hill;  again  I  heard  the  whistling  of 
the  rifle-bullets.  I  saw  the  infantry  at  200  yards'  distance,  and 
began  to  fire  my  lasj  cartridges.  I  saw  Gordon  Highlanders, 
and  it  seemed  that  they  fell  by  two  or  three  at  one  shot.  I  heard 
some  more  shooting  from  other  places,  which  rejoiced  me,  as  I 
thought  myself  quite  alone.  My  cartridges  being  at  an  end,  I 
retreated,  and  .now  the  bullets  flew  around  me,  and  I  heard 
nothing  else  but  the  striking  of  them  against  the  rocks!  At  last! 
After  two  minutes  I  reached  the  slope.  That  I  remained  unhurt 
in  these  two  minutes  is  most  wonderful.  Reaching  the  top 
again,  I  met  another  regiment  of  English  infantry,  and  all  was 
over,  our  men  retreating  in  the  valley  below,  surrounded  by 
cavalry.  I  had  nothing  to  do  but  sit  down  and  wait.  The  Eng- 
glish  were  with  me  in  a  moment,  and  took  off  my  gun.  Nine  of 
us  were  taken  prisoners  with  me  (three  Dutchmen,  one  artillery- 
man, one  German,  and  five  Afrikanders),  who  all  held  their  posi- 
tion to  the  last  moment.  The  Dutch  Volunteer  Corps  suffered 
badly  in  this  obstinate  struggle — thirty-four  were  taken  prisoners 
while  retreating,  and  three  in  the  battle,  while  on  the  whole  188 
men  were  taken  prisoners.    Among  the  dead  are  Dr.  Coster,  shot 


152  BATTLES  OF  ELANDSLAAGTE 

« 

through  the  head;  De  Jonge,  two  lance-wounds  and  two  revolver 
shots;  Bodenstein,  Citters,  shot  in  stomach;  Remmelink  shot  in 
the  head.  Most  men  of  the  corps  were  shot  or  wounded  on  the 
retreat. 

The  English  soldiers  treated  us  like  gentlemen.  They  gave 
us  to  drink  and  shared  their  bread  with  us.  In  Pietermaritzburg 
things  changed,  and  we  were  treated  as  criminal  prisoners.  In 
Transvaal  the  prisoners  of  war  are  much  better  treated. 

On  October  22,  1899,  General  Yule,  who  had  suc- 
ceeded to  the  command  of  General  Symons,  found  his 
position  on  Dundee  Hill  untenable.  A  column  of  Boers 
under  General  Joubert  threatened  him,  and  their  shells 
were  dropping  unpleasantly  near.  When  the  fire  became 
too  hot  he  fell  back  upon  Glencoe.  This  was  the  begin- 
ning of  his  retreat  to  Ladysmith. 

In  order  to  facilitate  the  retirement  of  the  Dundee 
garrison.  General  White,  accompanied  by  General  Sir 
Archibald  Hunter  and  General  French,  proceeded,  on 
October  24,  with  a  force  toward  Modder  Spruit,  intend- 
ing to  bivouac  there.  The  troops  employed  were  the 
Gloucesters,  Devons,  Liverpools,  King's  Rqyal  Rifles, 
three  batteries  of  field  artillery,  and  a  mounted  battery, 
the  Hussars,  and  the  Lancers,  the  mounted  infantry  of 
the  Liverpools,  the  Natal  Carbineers,  the  Durban  Mounted 
Rifles,  and  the  Border  Mounted  and  Imperial  Light 
Horse.  Early  in  the  morning  the  Nineteenth  Hussars 
and  Lancers  came  in  touch  with  the  Boers  below  Modder 
Spruit  Valley,  where  they  were  posted  along  a  strong 
ridge.  The  Boers  opened  fire  at  ten  or  twelve  hundred 
yards,  hitting  several  of  the  Hussars,  who  retired.  The 
British  scouts  on  the  spur  to  the  right  meanwhile  fired,  and 
an  advanced  party  of  Carbineers,  on  moving  through  an 
opening  in  the  rear  right  spur,  were  shelled  by  a  Boer 


AND  REITFONTEIN.  153 

• 

gun  from  Matowan's  Hoek.  Some  of  the  Light  Horse, 
leaving  their  horses  at  the  base  of  the  ridge,  advanced, 
and  took  the  crest  of  the  first  position  then  vacated  by 
Boer  skirmishers,  and  exchanged  shots.  The  Boer  artil- 
lery had  the  range,  but  their  shells  were  bad.  Their  guns 
were  silenced  and  the  whole  British  force  advanced  to  the 
first  ridge.  The  Boers  were  disposed  all  along  the  high 
land  of  Matowan's  Hoek.  The  British  artillery  opened 
fire  from  the  ridge,  sending  shell  after  shell  wherever  a 
clump  of  Boers  showed  itself  along  the  line.  A  shell  dis- 
lodged the  men  and  jnade  them  run  to  cover.  Meanwhile 
the  Gloucesters  and  Devonshires  played  under  cover  of 
the  guns  into  the  valley  and  a  hot  fire  was  opened  on 
them  by  the  Boers  along  the  left  of  the  kopje.  The 
British  Maxims  rattled  out,  and  for  half  an  hour  the  rifle  fire 
was  incessant.  The  infantry  steadily  advanced,  the  Boers 
replying  with  great  coolness.  The  British  finally  cleared 
the  center  of  the  line  by  .well-directed  artillery  fire. 

The  center  of  the  position  having  been  cleared,  their 
guns  were  still  engaged  shelling  Tinlanyoni  to  cover  the 
Boer  fire  on  the  advancing  infantry.  It  was  there,  in 
ascending  an  almost  impregnable  position,  that  a  company 
of  the  Gloucesters  was  suddenly  confronted  by  a  strong 
party  of  Boers,  who,  at  a  distance  of  200  yards,  poured 
in  a  hot  fire  with  destructive  effect,  wounding  thirty. 

At  two  o'clock  General  White  succeeded  in  communi- 
cating with  General  Yule  and  withdrew  his  forces.  As  he 
neared  the  main  road,  his  forces  seemed  to  come  into 
the  range  of  another  Boer  gun,  evidently  a  second  one 
brought  up,  which  sent  a  couple  of  shots  into  his  ranks. 
One  of  the  hottest  parts  of  the  fight  raged  round 
the  base  of  a  kopje  up  from  Pepworth  and  Reid's 
farm.     There  the  Natal  Volunteers,  under  Colonel  Roy- 


154  ELANDSLAAGTE  AND  REITFONTEIN. 

ston,  and  some  of  the  Light  Horse,  ran  a  gauntlet  of  fire. 
Boers  were  everywhere,  and  for  some  time  the  Light 
Horse  and  Volunteers  had  to  face  a  perfect  hail  of  bullets. 
The  Boers,  seeing  the  force  in  which  the  attack  was  being 
made  on  the  last  position,  and  which  also  afforded  them, 
from  its  rocky  and  bushy  character,  typical  cover,  started 
shelling  from  Matowan's  Hoek,  but  the  British  artillery 
again  dislodged  them.  The  matter  thus  resolved  itself 
into  a  rifle  duel  between  the  Volunteers  and  the  Boers. 
The  losses  were  as  follows: 

British  —  1 3  killed  (including  .  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Milford  of  the  Gloucestershires),  93  wounded,  3  missing. 
Boers — 6  killed,  9  wounded. 

The  engagement  was  successful  in  covering  General 
Yule's  retreat,  and  the  battle-scarred  garrison  of  Dundee 
reached  Ladysmith  October  27. 


•  CHAPTER  XII. 
SIEGES  OF  MAFEKING  AND  KIMBERLEY. 

Isolation  of   British  Garrisons  under   Colonels   Baden-Powell  and  Kekewich 
— Numerous  Unsuccessful  Sorties. 

'HILE    the    events    described   in    the   foregoing 
chapter   were    taking   place,    the    British   gar- 
rison   at    Mafeking,    commanded    by   Colonel 
Baden-Powell,  was  making  strenuous  efforts  to 
raise  the  siege  at  that  place. 

At  daybreak  on  the  morning  of  October  14  the  entire 
garrison  stood  to  arms,  as  the  Boers  were  reported  to  be 
advancing  from  the  south.  At  5:25  a  sharp  rifle  fire  was 
heard  from  the  north,  and  a  galloper  reported  that  the 
patrol  under  Lord  Charles  Cavendish  Bentinck  was  in 
action.  The  firing  lasted  only  a  few  minutes,  and  then 
an  armored  train,  under  Captain  Williams  of  the  British 
South  African  Police,  and  Lieutenant  Nore,  of  the  rail- 
way section,  was  ordered  to  move  out  and  engage  the 
Boers.  Within  seven  minutes  of  Lord  Charles  Bentinck's 
engagement  all  the  outposts  had  reported  having  heard 
his  firing,  and  about  twenty  minutes  to  six  Captain  Wil- 
son was  dispatched  to  ascertain  what  had  actually  hap- 
pened. It  was  found  that  the  Boers  had  retreated,  and 
the  alarm  'flag  was  hauled  down  and  the  town  guard 
retired. 

The  armored  train    came  into  action   soon  after  six. 

155 


.156     SIEGES   OF  MAP  EKING  AND  KLMBERLEY. 

The  scene  inside  it  was  perhaps  unique  in  the  annals  of 
modern  warfare.  The  crew  of  the  leading  truck,  "Fire- 
fly," consisted  of  a  detachment  of  the  British  South 
African  Police  and  Railway  Volunteers.  The  second 
truck  was  in  charge  of  Lieutenant  Nore,  an  engineer  on 
the  Bechuanaland  Railway.  No.  i  truck  was  armed  with 
a  Maxim,  and  its  crew  mostly  with  Lee-Metfords.  Truck 
No.  2,  which  carried  another  Maxim,  rejoiced  in  the  name 
of  "Wasp."  A  third  truck,  the  "Gun,"  carried  a  Hotch- 
kiss.     The  crew  of  the  trucks  numbered  fifteen  in  each. 

About  two  miles  beyond  Lord  Charles  Bentinck's  men, 
the  Boers  about  500  strong  were  sighted  to  the  right  front 
of  the  trucks,  and  the  leading  truck  immediately  opened 
fire  with  the  Maxim  at  300  yards.  The  Boers  replied 
with  quick-firing  guns  and  a  Maxim,  and  in  a  minute  or 
two  both  sides  were  raining  bullets. 

The  train  advanced  steadily,  and  as  the  Dutchmen 
now  and  again  discovered  the  range  and  began  to  drop 
shells  too  close  it  kept  on  the  move  up  and  down  the  line. 
The  fire  finally  became  so  hot  that  Colonel  Baden- 
Powell  sent  an  order  to  recall  the  train  and  dispatched 
Captain  FitzClarence  with  a  squadron  to  cover  the 
retreat.  At  first  his  advance  was  not  opposed,  but 
after  occupying  a  Kaffir  kraal  the  Boers  attemped  to 
outflank  him,  and  a  heavy  and  determined  engagement 
ensued.  The  armored  train  was  unable  to  assist  Cap- 
tain FitzClarence,  as  the  Boers  were  attacking  his  front 
and  still  trying  to  turn  his  flank.  The  sortie  was  a  failure 
and  both  the  train  and  Captain  FitzClarence  s  squadron 
were  driven  back  to  Mafeking.  The  British  lost  two 
killed  and  fifteen  wounded. 

By   October  23  the  Boers  had  concentrated  a  con- 
siderable force  around  Mafeking,  and  the  bombardment 


STEGES  OF  MAFEKING  AND  KIMBERLEY.      157 

of  the  town  was  begun  after  the  women  and  children  had 
been  given  ample  time  to  leave,  but  it  was  ineffectual. 

On  October  25  an  attack  upon  the  town  was  repulsed, 
and  on  October  27  the  British  Captain  FitzClarence 
made  a  gallant  bayonet  charge  upon  the  Boer  intrench- 
ments,  but  was  forced  to  retire  with  a  loss  of  six  killed  and 
nine  wounded.  Bombardment  with  sorties  and  repulses 
continued  to  be  the  order  of  the  day  during  the  month  of 
November,  Colonel  Baden-Powell,  who  held  out  so 
strongly  against  the  besiegers,  deserves  special  mention. 
When  he  was  given  the  rank  of  colonel  he  was  actually 
the  youngest  colonel  in  Her  Majesty's  army,  and,  so  being, 
he  possibly  excited  the  envy  of  another  member  of  his 
family,  who  for  a  long  time  was  the  oldest  subaltern  in 
the  service.  When,  a  matter  of  four  months  ago,  he  was 
dispatched  to  South  Africa  for  the  purpose  of  raising  a 
military  force  on  the  spot  and  drilling  it  into  efficiency,  he 
was  interviewed  on  his  departure  by  an  old  army  man, 
who  wished  him  ' '  Godspeed. "  "It  will  be  all  right, " 
Baden-Powell  responded.  "All  I  hope  is  that  they  will 
give  me  a  warm  corner  !  "  The  Boers  obliged  him  with 
the  first  "  warm  corner"  there  was  about. 

The  colonel's  father  was  the  late  Professor  Baden- 
Powell,  and  he  is  descended  on  his  mother's  side  from  a 
family  which  achieved  distinction  in  the  naval  service. 
He  was  educated  at  Charterhouse,  and  at  the  age  of  nine- 
.  teen  he  joined  the  Thirteenth  Hussars,  serving  as  adju- 
tant with  his  regiment  in  India,  Afghanistan,  and  South 
Africa.  Thus  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  Cape 
very  early  in  his  career,  an  acquaintance  to  be  resumed 
on  more  than  one  memorable  occasion  afterwards.  He  was 
dispatched  to  Cape  Town  again  in  1887  as  assistant  mili- 
tary secretary  to    General  Sir  Henry  Smith.      He  held 


158     SIEGES   OF  MAFEKING  AND  KIMBERLEY. 

this  appointment  for  two  years,  and  during  that  period  he 
served  in  the  Zuzuland  operations,  and  came  in  for  men- 
tion in  the  dispatches — always  an  honor,  but  even  more 
so  in  those  days  than  now. 

Then  he  was  appointed  mihtary  secretary  to  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Malta,  who,  though  he  had  no  power  to  do  so, 
gave  him  the  local  and  temporary  rank  of  major.  H.  R.  H. 
the  Duke  of  Cambridge  was  Commander-in-Chief  at  the 
time,  and  by  his  command  Baden-Powell  had  to  substi- 
tute two  stars  for  the  one  crown  on  his  shoulder-cords. 

The  firmness  of  .his  character  and  the  fact  that  he  was 
a  born  leader  of  men  were  already  apparent.  A  little 
anecdote  is  told  of  his  sojourn  at  Malta,  which,  though 
trivial  enough  in  its  way,  shows  how  he  sometimes  stepped 
in  where  others  in  authority  feared  to  tread.  A  carnival 
ball  was  held  at  the  Palace,  and  the  festivities  were  kept 
up  till  an  early  hour.  By  and  by  the  distinguished  host 
and  all  those  about  him  began  to  desire  heartily  that  the 
guests  would  go,  for  at  half-past  three  in  the  morning, 
though  they  occasionally,  in  the  manner  of  guests, 
remarked  that  they  were  "going,"  they  looked  good 
enough  to  remain  for  another  hour  or  two.  The  Acting 
Director  of  Ceremonies  didn't  know  what  to  do,  and  con- 
sequently did  nothing;  but  Baden-Powell  dealt  with  the 
situation.  He  went  out  into  the  corridor,  lit  a  cigarette 
at  a  gas-jet,  and  then,  with  some  of  the  guests  observing 
him,  significantly  turned  it  out.  It  was  a  delicate,  but 
firm  and  eff^ectual,  hint.  The  visitors  speedily  took  their 
departure,  and,  thanks  to  Baden-Powell,  the  Palace  was 
soon  in  repose. 

After  this  he  returned  to  Africa,  charged  with  the 
special  service  of  raising  and  commanding  the  native 
levies  in  the  Ashahtee  operations.     This  was  a  test  of  the 


SIEGES  OF  MAFEKING  AND  KIMBERLEY.     159 

man.  This  part  of  the  coast  was  new  to  him,  but,  for- 
tunately, he  obtained  the  assistance  of  Captain  (now 
Major)  Graham,  of  the  Fifth  Lancers,  who  was  very  well 
acquainted  with  the  country  and  its  people.  The  pair 
began  operations  at  Cape  Coast  Castle,  and  very  speedily 
organized  a  considerable  force,  which,  in  the  way  of 
pioneering,  scouting,  and  performing  outpost  work,  did 
service  of  a  quality  which  much  astonished  the  numerous 
critics  who  had  sworn  that  the  West  Coast  tribes  were 
good  for  nothing  of  the  kind.  Baden-Powell  made  sol- 
diers of  them,  and  when  he  came  home  he  came  with  the 
brevet  rank  of  Lieutenant-Colonel. 

His  motto  during  this  campaign  against  Prempeh  was, 
"Don't  flurry;  patience  gains  the  day,"  and  it  had  its 
origin  in  the  native  saying,'  "Softly,  softly,  catchee 
monkey, "  which  he  laughed  at,  but  the  truth  of  which  he 
realized.  He  would  remark  at  that  time  that  a  smile  and 
a  stick  would  carry  you  through  any  difficulty  in  the 
world,  and  it  was  because  of  this  disposition  and  of  these 
tendencies  of  character  that  he  established  -such  an  influ- 
ence over  the  natives,  and  got  so  much  work  out  of 
them. 

When  in  1896  the  Matabele  rose  for  a  second  time, 
General  Sir  Frederick  Carrington,  who  was  in  command 
of  the  British  forces,  selected  Baden-Powell  as  his  chief 
staff  officer.  Being  already  well  acquainted  with  the 
country  and  the  people,  the  selection  was  a  very  wise  one, 
and  it  was  amply  justified  by  results,  for  in  this  campaign 
he  achieved  his  greatest  distinction,  was  again  mentioned 
in  dispatches,  and  received  more  promotion. 

Though  his  official  position  was  that  of  chief-of- 
staff,  actually  he  seemed  to  be  everything  that  it  was  pos- 
sible for  a  soldier  and  a  man  to  be   under  the  circum- 


i6o     SIEGES  OF  MAFEKING  AND  KIMBERLEY. 

stances.  One  day  he  would  be  going  through  papers  and 
returns  in  his  office  at  Buluwayo,  then  he  would  ridf 
alongside  the  general  as  principal  staff  officer,  next  place 
himself  in  command  of  a  detached  column,  and  would  vary 
these  duties  by  going  off  on  a  scouting  expedition  with  a 
few  native  trackers,  and  run  great  risks  by  spying  out  the 
places  of  the  Matabele  impis  in  the  Matoppo  strongholds. 

As  if  this  were  not  enough,  he  played  the  part  of  wat 
correspondent  and  artist  as  well,  and  became  "special" 
for  one  of  the  London  dailies  during  this  war,  whilst  for 
another  of  them,  an  illustrated,  he  frequently  sent  home 
sketches.  It  is  rumored  that  while  carrying  on  this  work 
he  was  for  a  short  time  placed  in  a  very  delicate  position. 
He  was,  curiously  enough,  appointed  Press  Censor,  and 
it  became  his  duty  to  examine  all  the  "  copy  "  of  the  cor- 
respondents, and  cut  out  any  remarks  which  he  thought 
should  not  be  cabled  home.  Of  course,  his  discretion  in 
regard  to  his  own  '  *  copy  "  could  be  depended  upon,  but 
it  was  an  odd  situation. 

He  was  promoted  from  the  Thirteenth  Hussars  to  the 
command  of  the  Fifth  Dragoon  Guards  in  1897,  and  it 
was  on  his  return  from  India  a  little  while  ago  that  he  was 
sent  off  to  where  he  is  now.  Such  is  the  career  in  brief 
of  this  first-class  fighting  man. 

But  though  brilliant  all  round  as  an  officer,  and 
renowned  for  his  splendid  courage  and  determination,  he 
has  earned  fame  for  himself  for  one  particular  branch  of 
work  as  no  other  officer  has,  or,  it  is  safe  to  say,  will  do, 
in  the  present  generation.  He  is  by  a  long  way  the 
finest  scout  in  the  army.  He  revels  in  the  work,  looks 
upon  it  as  grand  sport,  and  is  never  so  happy  as  when 
running  all  manner  of  risks  in  pursuit  of  it. 

He  says  scouting  is  like  a  game  of  football.      * '  You 


SIEGES   OF  MAP  EKING  AND  K  1MB  ERIE  Y.      i6i 

are  selected  as  a  forward  player.  Play  the  game;  play 
that  your  side  may  win.  Don't  think  of  your  own  glorifi- 
cation or  your  own  risks — your  side  is  backing  you  up. 
Play  up,  and  make  the  best  of  every  chance  you  get. 
Football  is  a  good  game,  but  better  than  it,  better  than 
any  other  game,  is  that  of  man-hunting." 

As  to  what  scouting  really  means,  he  himself  can  tell 
us.  "It  is  comparatively  easy,"  he  says,  "  for  a  man  in 
the  heat  and  excitement  of  battle,  where  every  one  is 
striving  to  be  first,  to  dash  out  before  the  rest  and  do 
some  gallant  deed;  but  it  is  another  thing  for  a  man  to 
take  his  life  in  his  hand  to  carry  out  some  extra  dangerous 
bit  of  scouting  on  his  own  account,  when  there  is  no  one 
by  to  applaud,  and  it  might  be  just  as  easy  for  him  to  go 
back;  that  is  a  true  bit  of  hero's  work,  and  yet  it  is  what 
a  scout  does  continually  as  'all  in  the  day's  work.'  It  is  his 
own  pluck  and  ability  that  enable  him  to  do  his  work  with 
success.  For  these  reasons  the  scout  on  service  is  looked 
up  to  with  the  greatest  respect  and  admiration  by  his 
comrades." 

To  be  a  good  scout  a  soldier  must  be  a  detective  of  the 
Sherlock  Holmes  pattern,  and  thatis  just  what  the  colonel 
is.  On  one  very  misty  day  he  was  riding  with  the  staff 
at  the  Berkshire  manceuvres,  when  on  a  neighboring  hill 
four  parties  were  seen.  One  officer  declared  that  they 
were  squadrons  of  cavalry,  whilst  another  was  willing 
to  wager  that  they  were  guns.  Colonel  Baden-PoweH 
watched  them  closely  for  a  minute,  and  observed  that 
one  individual  crossed  over  from  one  party  to  the  next. 
He  made  a  deduction,  and  promptly  offered  to  bet  that 
they  were  sheep!  An  orderly  was  sent  out  to  see  what 
they  really  were,  and  when  he  returned  his  report  was 
"Sheep!" 


i62     SIEGES   OF  MAFEKING  AND  KIMBERLEY. 

Another  time  when  in  Matabeleland  he  had  suddenly- 
noticed  that  the  grass  had  been  recently  trodden  down. 
He  followed  up  the  track,  and  found  it  to  be  the  '  'spoor  " 
of  several  women  and  boys  going  in  the  direction  of  the 
enemy.  There  were  no  trees  for  miles  about,  but  he 
noticed  a  leaf  lying  a  few  yards  off  the  track,  and  he 
convinced  himself  that  the  party  had  come  from  a  village 
about  fifteen  miles  away  where  leaves  of  this  kind  grew. 
As  it  was  damp  and  smelt  of  beer,  he  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that,  according  to  their  custom,  they  had  been 
carrying  pots  of  native  beer  on  their  heads,  the  mouths  of 
the  pots  being  stopped  with  bunches  of  leaves,  and  as 
the  leaf  was  ten  yards  from  the  track  it  showed  that  there 
was  a  wind  blowing  when  they  passed. 

This  was  at  seven  in  the  morning,  and  though  there 
was  no  wind  blowing  then  there  had  been  about  two  hours 
before.  The  sum  total  of  the  colonel's  deductions  was 
that  this  party  had  been  taking  beer  from  the  village  to 
the  enemy  on  the  hills,  and  would  arrive  there  about  six 
o'clock.  The  men  would  start  drinking  at  once,  and  by 
the  time  he  could  reach  them  would  be  getting  sleepy 
from  it,  and  so  he  could  reconnoiter  their  position  with- 
out difficulty.  He  followed  the  track,  found  the  enemy, 
and  got  away  with  excellent  information.  Everything 
had  happened  as  he  had  deducted!  No  wonder  the 
Matabele  called  him  ' '  Impeesi, "  or  wolf,  and  the  man 
who  never  sleeps. 

Kimberley  was  in  much  the  same  situation  as  Mafe- 
king.  The  capture  of  the  latter,  however,  could  have  no 
appreciable  effect  on  the  war,  while  the  capture  of  the 
former  would  be  a  great  loss  to  the  British,  not  only  from 
a  military  point  of  view,  but  on  account  of  the  immense 
wealth  that  would  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Boers. 


THE  SIEGE  OF  iCIMBERLEY. 


jJIMJI    |ii"|l|l]g||g"  '  >-'^''' 


'^ 


BRITISH  ARTILLERY  AT  COLENSO. 


SIEGES  OF  MA  PEKING  AND  KIMBERLEY.      165 

It  is  estimated  that  Kimberley  was  besieged  by  a  Boer 
force  of  at  least  5,000  men  under  Commandant  Cronje. 
The  garrison  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Kekewich. 

All  through  October  and  November  of  1899,  the 
besieged  troops  made  ineffectual  sorties  and  withstood  an 
intermittent  bombardment.  The  most  brilliant  of  the 
sorties  was  on  October  24,  when  Colonel  Scott  Turner 
of  the  Second  Black  Watch  attacked  the  besiegers  at 
McFarlane's  farm.  Although  regarded  as  a  victory  by 
the  British,  who  behaved  gallantly,  especially  the  Lanca- 
shire regiment,  which  carried  a  kopje  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet,  Colonel  Turner  was  finally  forced  to  retire. 
This  sortie  illustrated  very  vividly  the  up-to-date  charac- 
ter of  present  warfare.  Almost  for  the  first  time  since 
the  American  Civil  War,  the  supports  to  the  troops 
engaged  were  conveyed  by  railway  to  the  actual  scene 
of  the  fighting,  and  instead  of  the  wounded  coming  back 
in  springless  carts  they  were  brought  in  comfortable  saloon 
carriages.  Although  Colonel  Turner  had  a  free  hand, 
Colonel  Kekewich  from  his  point  of  vantage  on  the  con- 
ning tower  was  able  to  see  what  was  going  on  six  miles 
distant,  and  he  was  guided  by  this  in  the  dispatch  of 
reinforcements.  During  the  later  phases  of  the  engage- 
ment an  armored  train  was  in  communication  by  tele- 
graphone  with  the  conning  tower,  and  several  reports 
were  transmitted  to  Colonel  Kekewich  in  this  way,  in 
addition  to  the  heliographic  dispatches. 

Among  the  reported  Boer  losses  it  was  claimed  that 
Commandant  Hans  Botha,  a  grizzled  veteran  fighter,  was 
killed. 

Seven  miles  from  the  scene  of  this  skirmish  the  De 
Beers  company  had  stored  thirty-five  tons  of  dynamite, 

10 


i66     SIEGES   OF  MAFEKING  AND  KIMBERLEY. 

valued  at  117,000.  This  was  discovered  by  the  Boers 
on  November  i,  who  immediately  exploded  it  with  a 
shell  from  one  of  their  guns.  On  November  2,  and  again 
on  the  sixteenth,  the  British  made  sorties,  losing  slightly 
in  killed  and  wounded. 


r^. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
THE  SIEGE  OF  LADYSMITH. 

Sir  George  Stewart  White  and   a  British  Garrison  of  12,000  Penned  Up — 
Fierce    Battles  and   Capture   of   British   Troops. 

I  HE  most  critical  situation  during  October  and 
November  was  at  Ladysmith,  the  British  miH- 
tary  headquarters  in  Natal.  Ladysmith  is  to 
Natal  what  Aldershot  is  to  England,  and  a 
large  force  garrisoned  the  place  under  command  of  Sir 
George  Stewart  White. 

The  Boer  force  besieging  Ladysmith  was  under  com- 
mand of  General  Joubert.  General  Yule's  column  from 
Dundee  reached  Ladysmith  on  October  26,  1899,  and 
General  White  decided  upon  a  sortie  in  the  direction  of 
Lombard's  Kop.  The  Boers  withdrew  without  giving 
battle,  but  on  October  28  they  began  mounting  heavy 
guns  overlooking  the  town. 

The  scouting  operations  disclosed  the  fact  that  several 
of  the  Boer  laagers,  including  that  of  Lucas  Meyer's 
column  from  Dundee,  lay  behind  Lombard's  and  Bulwan 
Kops  to  the  number  of  7,000  men,  with  two  batteries. 
At  daybreak  on  Saturday  General  French,  with  4,000 
men,  prepared  to  assault  the  positions  with  the  bayonet 
and  lance,  but  was  recalled. 

The  Free  Staters  and  General  Joubert  joined  hands  to 
the  south  of  Modder's  Spruit  and  west  of  the  railway. 
Their  central  laager  was  well  selected,   from  a   tactical 

167 


i68  THE  SIEGE   OF  LADYSMITH. 

point  of  view,  upon  the  rough  hills  south  of  Matawan 's 
Hoek.  The  Boers  advanced  in  lines  over  a  wide  circuit 
of  more  than  ten  miles,  extending  from  west  of  Acton 
Homes  to  east  of  Bulwan. 

Early  on  Monday  morning,  October  30,  the  Boers 
opened  fire  with  a  big  French  gun,  which  they  had 
named  * '  Long  Tom. "  The  British  field  guns  repHed, 
aided  by  the  guns  of  a  naval  brigade,  which  had  been 
brought  up  from  H.M.S.  "Powerful"  at  Durban. 

General  White  had  previously  determined  upon  a 
reconnoissance  in  force,  and  a  spirited  battle  terminating 
in  disaster  to  the  British  column  was  the  result.  The  pur- 
pose of  the  movement,  which  was  to  roll  back  the  Free 
Staters,  was  not  achieved.  Yet  the  British  soldiers 
individually  showed  themselves  fully  a  match  for  the 
Boers,  both  in  shooting  ability  and  in  pluck,  although  the 
latter,  had  been  posted  upon  rough  ground  which  had 
been  previously  prepared  for  defense  and  to  resist  a  can- 
nonade. 

The  Boers  had  been  drawing  their  coils  closer  around 
on  the  west,  north,  and  east  sides  of  the  town,  their  forces 
being  composed  of  the  Free  Staters,  General  Joubert's 
column,  and  that  of  Lucas  Meyer. 

General  Sir  George  White's  plan  included  the  fighting 
of  three  simultaneous  actions. 

On  Sunday-Monday  night,  before  daybreak,  the 
British  troops  marched  out  a  distance  of  several  miles 
from  camp  and  succeeded  in  securing  certain  points 
unseen  by  the  Boers. 

The  Boers  began  the  battle  at  ten  minutes  past  five 
o'clock  in  the  morning  by  firing  with  their  40-pounder 
guns  from  a  ridge  situated  about  four  miles  out  to  the  east 
of  the    railway,   dropping   shells   into    the    town.      The 


THE  SIEGE   OF  LADYSMITH.  169 

action  soon  became  general,  and  White's  left,  center, 
and  right  engaged  the* Boer  positions.  At  first  his  bat- 
teries seemed  unable  to  silence  the  Boer  artillery,  which 
was  handled  with  indomitable  energy  and  pluck,  the 
British  gunners,  having  to  contend  with  the  difficulty  of 
being  on  low  ground. 

General  White's  right  and  center  gained  some  initial 
successes,  but  the  Boers  arrived  in  force,  and  his  right 
and  left  were  attacked  with  tremendous  vigor.  His  left 
became  partially  hemmed  in,  and  his  right  was  driven  in 
steadily.  The  general  retirement  began  about  1 1  o'clock 
in  the  forenoon,  and  was  executed  with  coolness. 

The  details  of  the  action  were  substantially  as  follows: 

General  White  detailed  Major  Adye,  with  a  mountain 
battery  of  seven-pounders  and  part  of  the  Royal  Irish 
Fusiliers  and  Gloucestershire  Regiment,  to  hold  the  neck 
and  hills  north  of  the  old  camp,  thus  menacing  the  Free 
Staters'  line  of  retreat  and  securing  Ladysmith  from  a 
westerly  attack. 

General  Sir  Archibald  Hunter,  with  Colonel  Grim- 
wood,  two  batteries  of  artillery,  the  Leicestershire  and 
Liverpool  Regiments,  and  the  ist  and  2nd  Battalions  of 
the  Rifle  Brigade  were  sent  to  operate  against  Lucas 
Meyer,  passing  beyond  Lombard's  and  Bulwan  Kops. 

The  battery  and  the  Liverpools  lost  their  direction  in 
advancing.  They  retraced  their  steps,  but  were  not  able 
to  render  assistance  in  the  action  until  late. 

The  remaining  infantry  brigades — Colonel  Ian  Hamil- 
ton's, comprising  the  Gordon  Highlanders,  the  Devon- 
shire Regiment,  the  Manchester  Regiment,  and  the  4th 
Battalion  Rifle  Brigade;  and  Colonel  Howard's,  consisting 
of  the  ist  and  2nd  Battalions  King's  Royal  Rifles,  the 
Dublin  Fusiliers,  and  six  field  batteries — were  sent  to  the 


170  THE  SIEGE   OF  LADYSMTTH. 

center  on  the  Newcastle  roadway,  Colonel  Howard's 
brigade  being  on  the  right. 

They  halted  in  the  darkness  behind  a  low  kopje  to 
the  right  of  the  roadway  and  about  two  and  a  half  miles 
out,  the  guns  and  Colonel  Howard's  men  making  a  detour 
by  the  right  in  order  to  turn  what  was  thought  to  be  the 
Boer  left. 

General  White  sought  to  thrust  forward  his  center, 
whilst  Major  Adye  on  the  left  and  Colonel  Grimwood  on 
the  right  held  the  opposed  commandos  in  check.  Major 
Adye,  going  along  Walker's  Hoek  road,  found  a  big  force 
of  Free  Staters,  and  the  fighting^ soon  grew  desperate, 
and  the  exposed  kopje  which  he  occupied  was  at  an  early 
hour  assailed  from  all  sides. 

Practically  three  actions  were  raging  simultaneously. 
General  White  was  with  his  center,  where  an  artillery 
duel  was  proceeding  from  5:20  a.  m.  until  6:30  a.  m. ,  and 
so  adroitly  had  his  soldiers  occupied  their  positions  that 
the  Boers  had  no  idea, where  the  troops  securely  lay. 
The  boom  of  the  big  guns  reverberating  along  the  lines, 
with  the  screech  and  crash  of  the  shells,  drowned  every 
other  sound. 

About  7  A.  M.  his  right  center  advanced  to  turn  the 
Boer  left.  All  went  well  for  a  time,  his  troops  gradually 
wheeling  round  towards  the  northern  slopes  of  the  Tint- 
wanyona  ridges.  The  Boer  leaders  upon  the  hills  for 
hours  courageously  directed  their  men  and  guns,  and  to 
relieve  the  pressure  mounted  Boers  streamed  from  their 
laagers,  attacked  Major  Adye's  column  and  regained  the 
ground  they  had  lost  in  the  center. 

The  chief  incident  of  the  battle  and  one  that  caused 
great  excitement  at  the  time  was  the  capture  of  the  Royal 
Irish  Fusiliers,  the  Gloucestershire  Regiment  and  M'oun- 


THE  SIEGE   OF  LADYSMITH.  171 

tain  Battery  No.    10  by  the  Boers.     Major  Adye,  of  the 
staff,  who  had  fought  so  gallantly,  was  also  captured. 

This  disaster  to  the  British  forces  was  reported  by 
General  White  in  the  following  manly  telegram  wherein 
he  assumed  all  the  blame  for  the  affair: 

Ladysmith,  October  30,  11:30  p.m. — I  have  to  report  a  dis- 
aster to  a  column  sent  by  me  to  take  a  position  on  hill  to  guard 
the  left  flank  of  the  troops  in  these  operations  to-day.  The 
Royal  Irish  Fusiliers,  No.  10  Mountain  battery,  and  the  Gloucester 
regiment  were  surrounded  in  hills,  and,  after  losing  heavily,  had 
to  capitulate.  Casualties  not  yet  ascertained.  A  man  of  Royal 
Irish  Fusiliers  employed  as  hospital  orderly  came  in  under  flag 
of  truce  with  a  letter  from  the  survivors  of  the  column,  and 
asked  for  assistance  to  bury  the  dead.  I  fear  there  is  no  doubt 
of  the  truth  of  the  report.  I  formed  the  plan  in  carrying  out 
which  the  disaster  occurred,  and  am  alone  responsible  for  that 
plan.  No  blame  whatever  attaches  to  the  troops,  as  the  position 
was  untenable.  White. 

He  also  sent  the  following  official  description  of  the 
battle : 

Ladysmith,  October  31. — I  took  out  from  Ladysmith  a  bri- 
gade of  mounted  troops,  two  brigade  divisions  of  Royal  Artillery, 
Natal  Field  Battery,  and  two  brigades  of  infantry  to  reconnoiter 
in  force  enemy's  main  position  to  the  north,  and  if  opportunity 
should  offer  to  capture  the  hill  behind  Farquhar's  pass,  which 
had  on  the  previous  day  been  held  in  strength  by  the  enemy. 
In  connection  with  the  advance  a  column,  consisting  of  Tenth 
Mountain  battery,  four  and  a  half  companies  of  the  Gloucesters, 
and  six  companies  of  the  Royal  Irish  Fusiliers,  the  whole  under 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Carleton,  with  Major  Adye,  D.A.A.G.,  as 
staff  officer,  was  dispatched  at  10  p.  m.,  the  29th  ult.,  to  march  by 
night  up  Bell's  Spruit  and  seize  Nickolson's  Nek,  or  some  posi- 
tion near  Nickolson's  Nek,  thus  turning  enemy's  right  flank. 
The  main  advance  was  successfully  carried  out,  the  objective  of 
the  attack  being  found  evacuated.  An  artillery  duel  between  our 
field  batteries  and  the  enemy's  guns  of  position  and  Maxims  is 


172  THE  SIEGE   OF  LADYSMITH. 

understood  to  have  caused  heavy  loss  to  enemy.  The  reconnois- 
sance  forced  enemy  to  fully  disclose  his  position,  and  after  a 
strong-  counter  attack  on  our  right,  the  infantry  brigade  and 
cavalry  having  been  repulsed,  the  troops  were  slowly  withdrawn, 
two  camp  pickets  being  left  in  observation.  Late  in  the  engage- 
ment the  naval  contingent  under  Captain  Lambton,  H.M.S. 
Powerful,  came  into  action  and  silenced  with  extremely  accurate 
fire  the  enemy's  guns  of  position. 

The  circumstances  which  attended  the  movement  of  Colonel 
Carleton's  column  are  not  yet  fully  known,  but  from  the  reports 
received  the  column  appears  to  have  carried  out  the  night  march 
unmolested  until  within  two  miles  of  Nickolson's  Nek.  At  this 
point  two  boulders  rolled  from  a  hill,  and  a  few  rifle  shots,  stam- 
peded the  infantry  ammimition  mules.  The  stampede  spread  to 
the  battery  mules,  which  broke  loose  from  their  leaders,  and  got 
away  with  practically  the  whole  of  the  gun  equipment.  The 
greater  portion  of  the  regimental  small  arm  ammunition  reserve 
was  similarly  lost.  The  infantry  battalions,  however,  fixed  bayo- 
nets ;  and,  accompanied  by  the  personnel  of  the  battery,  seized  a 
hill  on  the  left  of  the  road,  two  miles  from 'the  neck,  with  but 
little  opposition.  There  they  remained  unmolested  until  dawn, 
the  time  being  occupied  in  an  organized  defense  of  the  hill  and 
constructing  stone  sangars  and  walls  as  cover  from  fire.  At 
dawn  a  skirmishing  attack  on  our  position  was  commenced  by 
the  enemy,  but  made  no  way  until  9:30  a.  m.,  when  strong 
enforcements  enabled  them  to  push  the  attack  with  great  energy. 
The  fire  became  very  searching,  and  two  companies,  and  the 
Gloucesters,  in  an  advanced  position,  were  ordered  to  fall  back. 
The  enemy  then  pressed  to  short  range,  the  losses  on  our  side 
becoming  very  numerous.  At  three  p.  m.  oiir  ammunition  was 
practically  exhausted.  The  position  was  captured  and  the  sur- 
vivors of  column  fell  into  the  enemy's  hands.  The  enemy  treated 
our  wounded  with  great  humanity,  General  Joubert  at  once  dis- 
patching a  letter  to  me  offering  safe  conduct  to  doctors  and  ambu- 
lance to  remove  wounded.  Medical  officer  and  parties  to  render 
first  aid  to  wounded  were  dispatched  to  scene  of  action  froip 
Lady  smith  last  night,  and  ambulance  at  dawn  this  morning. 
The  want  of  success  of  the  column  was  due  to  the  misfortune  of 
the  mules  stampeding  and  consequent  loss  of  guns  and  small- 


THE  SIEGE   OF  LADYSMITH.  173 

arm  ammunition  reserve.  Official  list  of  casualties  and  prisoners 
will  be  reported  shortly.  The  latter'are  understood  to  have  been 
sent  by  rail  to  Pretoria.  The  security  of  Ladysmith  is  in  no  way 
affected.  White. 

The  captured  numbered  843.  Thirty-two  of  the 
Gloucesters,  Jten  of  the  Fusihers  and  ten  of  the  mountain 
battery  were  found  dead  on  the  field,  while  1 50  wounded 
were  taken  to  Ladysmith.     The  Boers  lost  three  killed. 

Father  L.  Matthews,  chaplain  of  the  Irish  Fusihers, 
who  was  captured  at  Nickolson's  Nek,  October  31,  gave 
the  following  account  of  the  disaster: 

We  were  sent  out  to  occupy  the  position  with  the  object  of 
preventing  the  two  Boer  forces  joining.  We  started  at  8 130  on 
Sunday  night,  marched  ten  miles,  and  got  to  the  hill  at  i  a.  m. 
The  first  mishap  was  that  the  mountain  battery  stampeded  and 
scattered  the  whole  lot  of  mules.  We  formed  up  again  and 
gained  the  top  of  the  hill.  The  guns  were  gone,  but  not  all  the 
ammunition.  I  do  not  know  what  stampeded  the  mules.  The 
mules  knocked  me  down.  It  was  pitch  dark.  We  had  one 
hour's  sleep.  Firing  began  just  after  daylight.  It  was  slack 
for  some  time,  but  the  Boers  crept  round.  Then  the  firing 
became  furious.  Our  men  made  a  breastwork  of  stones.  After 
twelve  o'clock  there  was  a  general  cry  of  "Cease  fire"  in  that 
direction.  Our  fellows  would  not  stop  firing.  Major  Adye  came 
up  and  confirmed  the  order  to  cease  fire.  Then  the  bugle  sounded 
the  cease  fire.  In  our  sangar  there  was  a  rumor  that  the  white 
flag  was  raised  by  a  young  officer,  who  thought  his  batch  of 
ten  men  were  the  sole  survivors.  We  were  nine  hundred  alive, 
having  started  perhaps  a  thousand.  I  think  that  many  of  the 
battery  men  escaped.  Our  men  and  officers  were  furious  at 
surrendering.  The  Boers  did  not  seem  to  be  in  great  numbers 
on  the  spot,  but  I  heard  that  the  main  body  had  galloped  off. 
The  men  had  to  give  up  their  arms.  The  officers  were  sent 
to  Commandant  Steenchamp.  The  officers  then  ordered  the  men 
to  fall  in.  The  officers  were  taken  away  from  the  men  and  sent 
to  General  Joubert.     On  the  same  day  the  officers  went  in  mule 


174  THE  SIEGE   OF  LADYSMITH. 

wagons  and  slept  at  some  store  en  route,  and  next  day  took  train 
at  Waschbank  for  Pretoria."  The  officers  are  very.well  treated, 
and  so,  I  have  heard,  are  the  men.  There  has  been  no  unpleas- 
antness at  Pretoria.  The  officers  are  in  the  Model  School,  and 
are  allowed  to  walk  as  they  please  in  the  grounds.  I  think  that 
the  surrender  was  a  great  blunder,  and  was  caused  by  a  mis- 
understanding. Major  Adye  was  much  put  out.  The  white  flag 
was  not  hoisted  by  the  Irish  Fusiliers. 

The  battle-field  was  one  of  the  most  interesting  ever 
seen,  and  it  would  be  hard  to  beat  it  for  a  panoramic 
view  of  military  operations.  The  scene  was  a  superb 
plateau  interspersed  with  kopjes  and  surmounted  by  hills, 
the  chief  of  which  are  Lombard's  Kop  and  Culvara 
Mountain,  the  two  most  prominent  eminences  east  of 
Ladysmith.  Between  them  passes  the  high  road  to 
Helpmakaar.  The  battle-field  lay  below  them,  and  the 
camp  and  town  of  Ladysmith  were  plainly  visible  in  the 
distance.  The  landscape  was  bathed  in  the  bright 
morning  sun.  Every  detail  stood  out  sharply  in  the  clear 
atmosphere,  and  the  view  was  closed  in  the  far  distance 
by  the  noble  range  of  the  Basuto  Mountains. 

A  British  correspondent  who  witnessed  the  battle,  pays 
the  following  tribute  to  the  bravery  and  dogged  determi- 
nation of  the  men  on  both  sides: 

The  Boers  made  much  use  of  their  Maxims,  but  they  did  not 
do  much  execution  with  them.  One  of  our  Maxims  was  disabled 
by  the  Boer  artillery.  The  men  in  charge  of  it  fought  with  most 
dogged  bravery  and  tenacity,  working  the  gun  amidst  a  shower 
of  shell  as  long  as  it  was  workable,  and  finally  dragging  it  with 
their  own  hands  out  of  range,  and  so  saving  it  from  falling  into 
the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Every  one  of  the  mules  with  this 
plucky  detachment  was  either  killed  or  disabled. 

Our  Field  Artillery  were  in  evidence  all  the  day.  Over  and 
over  again  a  battery  would  expose  itself  to  the  fullest  fire  of  the 


THE  SIEGE   OF  LADYSMITH.  175 

enemy  while    a  battalion   in   temporary  difficulties   got  out  of 
range. 

Equal  gallantry  was  displayed  by  the  Boer  gunners. 
Through  field-glasses  I  diligently  watched  for  some  time  a  Boer 
battery  splendidly  posted  on  the  top  of  a  high  ridge.  Our  men 
had  got  the  range  of  this  battery  to  a  yard,  and  planted  shell 
after  shell  right  upon  it,  and  mowed  down  the  Boers  serving  it. 
But  the  enemy  kept  their  guns  firing  to  the  last,  fresh  men  run- 
ning out  of  cover  and  taking  the  place  of  their  dead  or  wounded 
comrades.  About  half-a-dozen  Boers  stood  upon  the  very  crest 
of  the  hill  and  calmly  watched  our  batteries  at  work,  and  there 
they  remained,  with  shells  flying  all  round  them. 

The  disaster  at  Nickolson's  Nek  was  followed  by  two 
smart  engagements  on  November  g  and  3,  in  which  the 
British  had  a  decided  advantage,  but  without  percepti- 
bly weakening  the  Boer  investment  of  Ladysmith. 

General  White  forced  the  pace  on  November  2. 
During  the  night  of  the  first  his  guns  were  quietly 
moved  to  a  better  position.  The  most  important  move- 
ment was  carried  out  by  the  Naval  Brigade,  which  man- 
aged to  get  three  of  their  powerful  quick-firing  guns  to 
the  top  of  a  high  ridge  close  to  the  town  on  the  western 
side.  The  Boers  had  also  been  busy.  They  dragged 
one  40-pounder  into  an  excellent  new  position,  and  they 
replaced  their  disabled  and  damaged  guns  by  fresh  ones, 
which  they  mounted  in  the  old  positions.  They  also 
erected  a  new  battery  on  a  hill  southwest  of  the  town  and 
situated  about  four  miles  distant.  The  Naval  Brigade 
opened  fire  early  on  the  morning  of  the  second  and  the 
Boers  replied  promptly  and  fiercely. 

All  this  artillery  work  occupied  the  attention  of  the 
Boers  and  enabled  Sir  George  White  to  achieve  his  main 
purpose  of  the  day,  which  was  the  capture  of  the  Boer 
camp  just  behind  Bester's  Hill. 


176  THE  SIEGE   OF  LADYSMITH. 

Joubert's  main  force  was  occupying  two  positions  to  the 
east  of  the  town,  one  on  the  old  site  on  the  ridge  above 
Pepworth's  Farm,  where  the  40-pounder  was  still  sullenly 
replying  to  the  British  fire,  and  the  other  on  Umbulwani 
(Simbulwana)  Hill. 

The  field  artillery  were  supporting  the  cavalry  and 
infantry,  the  latter  not  yet  in  action.  The  Naval 
Brigade's  guns  were  engaged  with  the  big  Boer  gun  at 
Pepworth's  Farm,  and  the  heaviest  field  guns  were  reply- 
ing to  the  Boers'  battery  on  Umbulwani  (Simbulwana) 
Hill. 

At  the  time  mentioned  there  was  a  temporary  cessa- 
tion of  the  artillery  fire  all  round,  but  the  artillery  of  the 
Free  State  Boers  could  still  be  heard  in  the  direction  of 
Bester's. 

The  British  troops  comprised  the  Lancers,  the  Hussars, 
the  Natal  Carbineers,  and  the  Natal  Border  Rifles, 
and  they  left  at  dawn.  A  field  battery  was  also  sent  out, 
and  unmolested  took  up  a  good  position. 

General  French,  who  was  in  command,  got  his  force 
within  striking  distance  before  the  Boers  were  aware  of 
his  movements. 

The  Boers  were  in  a  well-chosen  position,  and  the 
camp — a  large  one — was  surrounded  by  the  usual  laager 
of  wagons  and  other  obstructions  to  a  direct  attack. 
Bester's  Hill  itself  was  well  fortified,  and  good  guns  were 
in  position  there. 

The  first  intimation  the  Boers  received  was  about 
9  o'clock,  when  the  British  guns  opened  fire  upon  their 
camp.  Their  guns  replied  with  some  spirit,  but  they  were 
badly  served  and  they  did  little  damage.  Our  gunners, 
on  the  other  hand,  rained  shell  upon  the  enemy's  camp. 
During  the    artillery    fire    the    cavalry,  which    had   been 


THE  SIEGE  OF  LADYSMITH.  177 

steadily  working  up  to  the  Boer  camp,  suddenly  burst 
upon  it,  stormed  over  the  laager,  and  drove  everything 
irresistibly  before  them.  The  casualties  on  both  sides 
were  small. 

On  November  3  General  Brockelhurst  captured  the 
Boer  position  on  Grobler's  Kloof  by  an  infantry  charge 
with  a  flank  attack  by  cavalry.  The  movement  was  made 
for  the  purpose  of  relieving  the  Colenso  column  which  had 
been  attacked  by  the  Boers. 

No  definite  advantage  was  gained  by  the  British  in 
these  sorties,  for  so  soon  as  the  British  would  fall  back 
upon  Ladysmith,  the  Boers  would  reoccupy  their  old 
positions  and  the  bombardment  and  siege  continued. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
DULLER  TAKES  COMMAND  OF  BRITISH  FORCES. 

His  Plan  of  Campaign — Sending  Relief  Columns  to    Kimberley   and   Lady- 
smith — Sketch  of  His  Career — Estimate   of   Boer    Forces. 

IR    REDVERS    HENRY  DULLER,   who  had 
been    appointed    Commander-in-Chief    of    the 
British  forces  in  South  Africa,  arrived  at  Dur- 
ban   on    October    31,    1899,    and   immediately 
took  command. 

Great  things  were  expected  of  Buller,  and  inasmuch 
as  the  events  which  followed  were  the  result  of  his  plan 
of  campaign,  the  following  biographical  facts  concerning 
him  are  worth  knowing: 

Major-General  Buller  at  this  writing  is  sixty  years  of 
age.  He  comes  from  a  good  old  Devonshire  stock.  He 
is'  a  son  of  the  late  Mr.  J.  W.  Buller,  and  his  native 
county  may  well  be  proud  of  him.  He  has  filled  prac- 
tically every  position  in  the  army  except  that  of  Com- 
mander-in-Chief. 

Sir  Redvers  Buller  was  fortunate  at  the  .outset  of  his 
military  career,  inasmuch  as  he  received  what  Napoleon 
the  Less  .called  his  "  baptism  of  fire  "  within  two  years  of 
the  date  of  his  first  commission.  This  was  in  the  China 
War  of  i860.  In  1870  he  took  part  in  the  Red  River 
Expedition,  which  first  brought  him  under  the  notice  of 
Lord  Wolseley.  Three  years  later  he  was  Deputy  Assist- 
ant-Adjutant-General in  the  Ashantee  War,  in  which  he 
was  badly  wounded.      He  was  in   South  Africa  in    1878, 

178 


BULLER    TAKES  COMMAND.  179 

and  played  an  active  part  in  several  actions  against  the 
Gaikas  and  Galekas,  and  commanded  the  column  in  the 
affair  at  Buffalo  Range.  In  the  more  serious  campaign 
against  the  Zulus,  he  commanded  the  Mounted  Troops  of 
Sir  Evelyn  Wood's  column.  He  had  charge  of  the  Intel- 
ligence Department  in  the  Egyptian  War  in  1882,  and 
was  present  at  Tel-el-Kebir,  also  at  El  Teb  and  Tamai, 
and  was  Chief  of  Staff  in  the  Gordon  Relief  Expedition 
in   1884-85. 

Here  is  the  story  of  how  he  won  his  Victoria  Cross, 
the  most  coveted  decoration  in  the  British  army: 

It  was  on  March  28,  1879,  at  which  time  he  was  in 
command  of  the  mounted  troops — strictly  they  were  not 
cavalry — of  Sir  Evelyn  Wood's  column  in  the  Zulu  War. 
He  had  been  dispatched  by  his  commander  to  clear  the 
Inhlobane  Mountain.  The  task  had  been  accomplished 
in  the  face  of  stupendous  difficulties  and  some  opposition, 
when  enormous  Zulu  reinforcements  were  observed  com- 
ing up  and  threatening  to  cut  him  off.  He  was  by  sheer 
force  of  ^circumstances  compelled  to  retreat  by  making  a 
descent  by  the  precipitous  sides  of  the  mountain.  His 
force  lost  heavily,  but  his  calmness  and  magnificent  self- 
devotion  saved  it  from  the  absolute  destruction  which 
seemed  imminent.  The  much  prized  decoration  was  won 
not  by  a  headlong  rush  against  a  foe,  nor  yet  by  a  sudden 
impulse  of  gallantry,  but  by  three  unaffected  acts  of  un- 
selfish devotion,  involving  almost  certain  death. 

First,  when  the  pursuit  was  hottest,  he  saw  Captain 
D'Arcy  of  the  Frontier  Light  Horse  dismounted,  his  horse 
having  been  killed  under  him,  and  retiring  on  foot. 
Colonel — as  Sir  Redvers  then  was — Buller,  though  he  him- 
self is  a  big,  heavy  man,  quite  a  load  for  a  horse,  espe- 
cially after  a    fatiguing  morning,  promptly  took  Captain 


i8o  BULLER    TAKES  COMMAND.     ' 

D'Arcy  up  behind  him  and  carried  him  out  of  reach  of  the 
foe.  A  little  later  on  the  same  day,  under  similar  circum- 
stances and  in  the  same  manner,  he  rescued  another  offi- 
cer of  the  Frontier  Light  Horse,  Lieutenant  Everett.  He 
finished — also  on  the  same  day — by  carrying  out  of  dan- 
ger a  trooper  whose  horse  was  completely  exhausted. 
When  he  took  this  man  up  behind  him,  the  Zulus  were 
within  eighty  yards  of  them.  Three  separate  and  dis- 
tinct actions  in  one  day,  each  of  which  would  have  gained 
the  famous  bronze  cross  for  any  man  ! 

Such  is  the  man  England  selected  to  pit  against 
Joubert. 

With  the  troops  already  assigned,  many  of  them  at 
that  moment  en  route  to  South  Africa,  he  would  have  an 
army  corps  of  about  90,000  men. 

His  departure  from  England  was  the  occasion  of  a 
great  public  demonstration,  and  he  was  received  at  Dur- 
ban with  great  manifestation  of  delight.  In  the  minds  of 
many  the  war  was  as  good  as  over,  but  they  soon  dis- 
covered that  Sir  Redvers  had  to  cope  with  2m  foeman 
worthy  of  his  steel.  They  wore  no  gaudy  trappings  or 
decorations,  but  they  knew  how  to  shoot  and  were 
commanded  by  men  who  excelled  in  strategy. 

Two  forward  movements  were  imperative.  Lady- 
smith,  with  its  garrison  of  12-, 000  troops  and  $5,000,000 
worth  of  stores,  was  completely  invested  and  the  cordon 
was  growing  tighter  and  stronger  every  day.  Sir  George 
White  had  made  a  gallant  defense,  but  unless  he  were 
given  relief  there  could  be  but  one  end  to  the  siege — the 
surrender  of  Ladysmith  to  General  Joubert.  Obviously 
Ladysmith  must  be  relieved.  This  would  require  a  strong 
column,  as  the  Boers  were  in  force  as  far  south  as  the 
Orange  River. 


MARKET  SQUARE,  SOUTH  SIDE,   SHOWING  NATIONAL  BANK 
AND   CHAMBER    OF   MINES,  JOHANNESBURG. 


SIR  REDVERS  HENRY  BULLER. 


BULLER   TAKES  COMMAND.  183 

A  Macedonian  cry  for  help  was  ascending  from  Kim- 
berley.  The  garrison  under  Kekewich  was  in  daily  con- 
flict with  the  besieging  Boers,  and  aside  from  its  priceless 
treasure  in  diamonds  it  was  reported  that  $25,000,000  in 
gold  was  stored  there.  Besides  it  had  for  a  principal 
guest  Cecil  Rhodes,  the  dominating  figure  in  British  South 
Africa,  whose  capture  would  gratify  the  besiegers  more 
than  the  capture  of  the  town.  Obviously,  Kimberley 
must  be  relieved. 

The  relief  of  Kimberley  would  be  followed  by  the  relief 
of  Mafeking,  where  Baden-Powell  was  "  sitting  tight  "  with 
very  little  to  eat.  Far  north  in  Rhodesia,  Colonel  Plumer 
was  ' '  holding  the  fort, "  surrounded  by  a  cordon  of  Boers, 
but  his  situation  was  of  no  immediate  consequence. 

The  Orange  Free  Staters  were  preparing  to  invade 
Cape  Colony,  which  they  did  two  days  later,  and  their 
presence  was  certain  to  have  its  effect  upon  the  Cape 
Dutch.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  latter  were  restless  and 
only  awaiting  a  favorable  opportunity  to  join  their  friends 
and  kindred,  the  Boers.  The  battles  of  Dundee, 
Glencoe,  Elandslaagte  and  Reitfontein  and  Nickolson's 
Nek  had  been  fought,  and  the  Boers  were  flushed  with 
victory.  The  eff^ect  was  depressing  upon  the  garrison 
troops  and  stimulated  the  Boers  to  renewed  aggressive- 
ness. They  pressed  south  of  Ladysmith  and  inter- 
rupted the  lines  of  communication.  The  British  garrison 
at  Colenso  evacuated  that  place  under  the  artillery  fire  of 
the  Boers,  and  fell  back  toward  Estcourt.  The  garrison 
at  Stormberg  was  withdrawn,  because  it  was  seen  to  be 
impossible  to  defend  the  place.  Simultaneously  with  this 
the  Boers  issued  a  proclamation  annexing  the  Upper 
Tugela  district  of  Natal  to  the  Orange  Free  State. 

The  scene  of  the  invasion  of  Cape  Colony  was-  the 

XI 


i84  BULLER    TAKES  COMMAND. 

Colesburg  district,  which  was  in  the  center  of  Afrikander 
disaffection  in  the  Colony,  and  where  a  rising  had  been 
expected  to  take  place  any  moment  after  hostilities  com- 
menced. The  enemy  had  been  concentrating  their  forces 
at  Bethulie  and  Springfontein.  On  November  i  they 
crossed  the  frontier  at  Norval's  Pont,  by  means  of  the 
railway  bridge  across  the  Orange  River  and  the  old  stage 
coach  road  bridge.  From  Norval's  Pont  the  Free  Staters 
advanced,  using  the  railway  and  the  highway,  and  occu- 
pied the  town  of  Colesburg.  The  enemy  did  not  meet 
with  the  least  resistance,  nor  was  it  expected  that  their 
advance  would  be  opposed.  The  only  force  in  Colesburg 
was  a  small  squad  of  police,  under  a  sergeant.  They 
yielded  to  superior  force,  and  were  made  prisoners  of  war. 

Such  were  the  conditions  confronting  Sir  Redvers 
Buller  when  he  began  the  work  of  mobilizing  his  forces 
and  putting  his  plan  of  campaign  in  action.  British  affairs 
had  reached  a  crisis  and  London  did  not  attempt  to  con- 
ceal alarm  over  the  situation,  which  was  increased  by  the 
discovery  that  the  Boer  army  was  much  larger  than  had 
been  at  first  estimated. 

The  estimate  of  a  military  expert  showed  the  following: 

Around  Ladysmith,  including  5,000  at  Colenso  .  .  .25,000 

In  Zululand 4,000 

In  Cape  Colony  advancing  on  Burghersdorp 5,000 

In  Colesburg 3,000 

Around  Kimberley  5i5oo 

Mafeking 4,500 

On  Northern  Transvaal  border 2,000 

Total 49,000 

Although  General  Buller's  force  was  nearly  double,  it 
required  about  half  of  it  to  protect  lines  of  communica- 
tion. 


BULLER    TAKES  COMMAND.  185 

Under  these  circumstances  he  did  what  would  have 
been  done  probably  by  nine  out  of  ten  generals  placed 
in  his  position.  He  divided  his  forces  into  three  columns. 
One  under  General  Lord  Methuen  was  sent  to  the  relief 
of  Kimberley,  another  under  General  Sir  W.  F.  Gatacre 
was  to  constitute  the  center  of  his  advance,  ultimately 
going  to  the  reinforcement  of  Methuen;  the  third  and 
largest  was  under  General  Cornelius  Francis  Clery  and, 
accompanied  by  the  commander-in-chief,  was  intended 
for  the  relief  of  Ladysmith. 

While  these  preparations  were  going  forward  there 
was  much  activity  around  Ladysmith  and  along  the  hne 
of  communication  with  Kimberley.  On  November  11, 
Colonel  Gough  of  the  Ninth  Lancers,  with  two  squadrons 
of  his  regiment,  a  small  force  of  mounted  infantry,  two 
companies  each  of  the  Northumberland  Fusiliers,  the  Royal 
Munster  Fusiliers,  and  the  Royal  North  Lancashire 
Regiment,  and  a  half  battery  of  Royal  Field  Artillery, 
under  Major  Lindsay,  encountered  a  Boer  force  of  700 
at  Belmont.  The  Boers  were  commanded  by  Vander- 
merwe.  They  were  in  a  position  of  great  natural 
strength,  with  a  firing  line  of  over  a  mile.  Colonel  C.  E. 
Keith-Falconer  of  the  Northumberland*  Fusiliers  and  two 
lieutenants  were  killed  and  about  half  a  dozen  men 
wounded.  The  skirmish  is  worth  narrating,  as  it  shows 
the  tactics  practiced  by  the  Boers,  whether  operating  in 
large  or  small  bodies.  The  scouts  of  the  Lancers  saw  a 
number  of  mounted  Boers,  who  fled  and  the  Lancers  gave* 
chase.  The  main  body  of  Boers  was  concealed  and  they 
allowed  the  British  to  come  very  close  before  opening 
fire.  One  account  of  the  fight  says:  "The  Boer  bullets 
spat  up  sand  amongst  the  horses'  feet,  and  it  is  really 
remarkable  that  our  casualties  were  so  few.      The  hottest 


i86  BULLER    TAKES   COMMAND. 

corner  was  the  spot  where  Colonel  Keith-Falconer  fell. 
He  was  shot  full  in  the  chest,  and  dropped  fronting  the 
enemy  with  a  smile  on  his  face.  His  death  was  instan- 
taneous, but  Lieutenant  Hall  lingered  for  a  few  hours 
after  receiving  a  wound  which  it  was  seen  from  the  first 
must  be  mortal.  The  Boers  took  advantage  of  every 
kind  of  shelter,  and  were  practically  in  ambush  when 
they  suddenly  opened  fire.  The  British  troops  were 
simply  wild  at  seeing  their  officers  fall,  and  they  were 
held  in  check  with  difficulty.  One  man  claimed  with 
grim  pride  to  have  shot  the  man  who  killed  the  colonel. 

This  action  should  not  be  confused  with  the  battle  of 
Belmont.  It  was  simply  a  preliminary  skirmish  to  the 
battle  of  Belmont,  the  first  battle  fought  by  Lord 
Methuen  when  he  began  his  advance  for  the  relief  of 
Kim  barley. 


>A4  JJJ^ 


CHAPTER  XV. 
METHUEN'S    KIMBERLEY  RELIEF  COLUMN. 

The  Battles  of  Belmont,  Gras    Pan   or   Enslin    and   the   Stunning  Reverses 
at  Modder  River — Bloody  Engagements  and  Severe  Losses. 

S  GEN.  LORD  METHUEN'S  column  was  the 
first  of  the  rehef  columns  to  come  in  contact  with 
the  Boers,  we  will  deal  first  with  its  operations. 
On  November  2 1  the  entire  division  under  Lord 
Methuen,  about  7,000  men,  moved  out  from  the  Orange 
River  and  bivouacked  at  Witte  Puts.  This  movement  at 
once  drew  the  fire  of  the  Boer  artillery,  the  Boers  being 
intrenched  at  Belmont  immediately  north.  On  November 
22  there  was  an  artillery  skirmish,  the  British  capturing 
the  Boer  position  at  a  place  called  Fincham's  Farm.  On 
Thursday,  November  23,  the  real  battle  was  fought,  and 
while  the  British  succeeded  in  gaining  ihe  Boers,  position 
they  did  so  at  a  fearful  cost,  having  had  294  killed  a«d 
wounded,  while  the  Boers  retired  in  an  orderly  manner, 
taking  all  of  their  guns  with  them,  although  they  lost  40 
prisoners. 

The  battle  began  at  3:56  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and 
the  following  description  conveys  a  general  idea  of  how  it 
was  fought: 

The  Boers  were  intrenched  behind  three  sets  of  ridges 
or  kopjes.  The  Scots  Guards  and  the  Grenadiers  attacked 
the  first  position  after  a  five-mile  night  march.     The  Boers 

187 


1 88    METHUEN'S  KIMBERLEY  RELIEF  COLUMN. 

reserved  their  fire  until  their  assailants  were  within  250 
yards.  Then  they  opened  a  withering  fire,  to  which  the 
British  did  not  reply,  although  it  staggered  them  for  a 
moment.  With  fixed  bayonets,  and  with  drums  beating 
and  fifes  playing,  they  went  steadily  up  until  the  Boers 
were  forced  to  take  refuge  behind  their  second  line  of 
defense.  It  was  one  of  the  finest  achievements  in  the 
history  of  the  brigade,  and  one  that  called  for  the  highest 
form  of  bravery. 

The  Ninth  Brigade  then  moved  forward  in  extended 
order,  and  the  Boers  started  a  terrible  cross-fire  from  the 
surrounding  hills.  The  Coldstreams,  supported  by  the 
Scots,  Grenadiers,  Northumberlands,  and  Northamptons, 
stormed  the  second  position  in  the  face  of  a  constant  and 
effective  Boer  fire. 

The  Ninth  Brigade  then  advanced  the  artillery,  in  the 
meantime  maintaining  excellent  practice.  The  British 
infantry  never  wavered,  and  when  a  tremendous  cheer 
notified  them  of  the  charge,  the  Boers  fled  and  succeeded 
in  gaining  a  range  of  hills  in  the  rear,  in  spite  of  the 
Lancers'  flanking  movement. 

The  infantry  again  gallantly  faced  the  fire,  and  the 
naval  brigade  came  into  action  for  the  first  time  at  a 
range  of  1,800  yards.  The  infantry  was  well  supported 
by  the  artillery,  and  the  Boers,  unable  to  withstand  the 
death-dealing  volleys,  retired,  leaving  the  position  in  the 
hands  of  their  assailants. 

Had  the  British  been  supplied  with  sufficient  cavalry, 
they  might  have  won  a  decisive  victory  by  following  up 
the  Boer  retreat.  As  it  was,  it  was  really  a  check  to 
Methuen,  who  nevertheless  claimed  a  victory,  for  he  lost 
heavily  and  captured  no  guns. 

The  following  is  his  official  report  of  the  battle: 


METHUEN'S  KIMBERLEY  RELIEF  COLUMN.    189 

Belmont,  November  23. 

Attacked  enemy  at  daybreak  this  morning  in  strong  position. 

Three  ridges  carried  m  succession,  last  attack  being  prepared 
by  shrapnel. 

Infantry  behaved  splendidly,  and  received  support  from  Naval 
Brigadfe  and  artillery. 

Enemy  fought  with  courage  and  skill. 

Had  I  attacked  later  I  should  have  had  far  heavier  losses. 

Victory  was  complete. 

Have  taken  40  prisoners,  and  am  burying  good  number  of 
Boers,  but  the  greater  part  of  the  killed  and  wounded  have  been 
taken  away  by  their  comrades. 

Have  large  number  of  horses  and  cows.  Have  destroyed  large 
amount  of  ammunition.  Methuen. 

Especial  gallantry  was  displayed  in  the  battle  of 
Belmont  by  Major  Milton,  King's  Own  Yorkshire  Light 
Infantry.  At  the  close  of  the  action  the  Mounted 
Infantry,  which  he  was  leading,  fell  into  an  ambush 
and  fled.  He  supplied  a  trooper  whose  horse  had  been 
killed,  with  his  own  and  then  walked  away  under  heavy 
fire.  Chaplain  Hills  also  showed  absolute  carelessness  of 
personal  danger. 

After  the  battle  Lord  Methuen  made  the  following 
address  to  the  troops:  "Comrades,  I  congratulate  you 
on  the  complete  success  achieved  by  you  this  morning. 
The  ground  over  which  we  have  to  fight  presents  excep- 
tional difficulties,  and  we  have  as  an  enemy  a  past-master 
in  the  tactics  of  mounted  infantry.  With  troops  such  as 
you  are,  a  commander  can  have  no  fear  as  to  the  result. 
There  is  a  sad  side,  and  you  and  I  are  thinking  as  much 
of  those  who  have  died  for  the  honor  of  their  country  and 
of  those  who  are  suffering  as  we  are  thinking  of  our 
victory. " 

Lord  Methuen's  column  left  Belmont  Friday  afternoon, 


ipo   METHUENS  KIMBERLEY  RELIEF  COLUMN. 

November  24,  marched  six  miles  in  a  northeasterly  direc- 
tion and  bivouacked  for  the  night.  On  Saturday,  the 
twenty-fifth,  he  fought  the  battle  of  Gras  Pan,  or  as  it 
has  been  officially  designated,  the  battle  of  Enslin..  Lord 
Methuen  had  ascertained  the  B6ers'  position  the  night 
before.  The  British  attacking  force  comprised  the 
Naval  Brigade,  the  Ninth  Brigade,  the  cavalry  and  two 
batteries  of  artillery. 

The  Boers  occupied  a  horseshoe-shaped  position  upon 
the  kopjes  which  encircled  the  hills.  The  fight  again 
opened  in  the  early  morning,  but  on  this  occasion  the 
British  guns  were  brought  into  play  before  the  infantry 
advanced.     The  shell  fire  was  continuous  and  terrific. 

The  Boer  position,  a  strong  one  upon  the  kopjes,  was 
shelled  to  such  an  extent  that  the  Boer  fire  slackened  and 
died  away,  and  not  a  man  was  to  be  seen  on  the  line  of 
hills  in  front. 

Then  it  was  that  Lord  Methuen  gave  the  order  for 
the  force  to  advance  and  occupy  the  kopje  which  formed 
the  center  of  the  position  and  the  stronghold  of  the  Boer 
defense. 

This  was  the  great  feature  of  the  day. 

The  men  advanced  to  the  charge  with  a  brilliancy  that 
could  not  be  surpassed.  They  all  believed  that  the 
attack  would  probably  be  a  safe  one,  and  that  the  posi- 
tion would  be  theirs  with  a  trifling  loss.  The  naval  men 
led  the  way,  and  when  they  started  there  was  no  sign  of 
an  enemy.  It  looked  as  though  the  hot  shell  fire  had 
been  too  much  for  them,  and  that  they  had  fallen  back 
from  their  line  of  defense.  They  had  a  sudden  and  a 
rude  awakening. 

Whilst  the  naval  men  were  200  or  300  yards  from  the 
enemy's  line  they  were  met  by  one  blaze  of  fire  from  right 


GENERAL    METHUEN. 


METHUEN'S  KIMBERLEY  RELIEF  COLUMN.    191 

round  the  kopje.      It  was  so  murderous  and  well  sustained 
that  no  troops  could  live  before  it. 

Commander  Ethelston,  R.N. ,  was  among  those 
slain  at  this  point. 

The  men  fell  back  for  a  ^ew  moments  for  cover. 
Then  the  charge  was  again  sounded,  and  this  time, 
rushing  from  point  to  point,  taking  all  the  shelter  the 
ground  afforded,  the  men  reached  the  foot  of  the  kopje. 
What  that  run  was  will  be  realized  when  it  is  said  that 
the  shower  of  bullets  striking  the  ground  gave  all  ,the 
appearance  of  a  raging  sandstorm. 

At  the  foot  of  the  kopje  the  men  halted  for  an  instant 
only.  Then  with  a  wild  yell  they  went  for  the  hill,  burn- 
ing to  revenge  themselves  for  the  loss  of  oificers  and  com- 
rades. 

The  Boers  could  not  stand  it.  The  few  that  held 
their  ground  were  killed.  The  great  majority  fell  back 
rapidly. 

The  fight  was  somewhat  of  a  revelation.  How  the 
Boers  lay  low  under  their  defenses  without  making  any 
sign  during  the  terrific  shelling  of  the  artillery  was 
regarded  as  a  marvel  by  military  men.  It  was  a  feat 
scarcely  expected  of  them.  On  the  other  hand,  the  cool- 
ness of  the  British  under  fire,  the  determined  work  of 
the  sailors  and  marines,  and  the  persistency  with  which 
all  arms  worked  for  the  one  result  was  praiseworthy. 

The  fight  was  brilliant  and  picturesque  in  the  extreme. 

Though  the  Boers  suddenly  retired,  their  retreat  was 
by  no  means  a  rout.  Relying  also  upon  their  superior 
mobility,  every  man  of  them  being  provided  with  a  |iorse, 
they  hung  on  the  outskirts  of  Methuen's  column  and  con- 
tinually harassed  it. 

The  British  loss  was   198  killed  and    wounded,   the 


192    METHUEN'S  KIMBERLEY  RELIEF  COLUMN. 

Naval  Brigade  being  the  heaviest  sufferer.      All  of  the 
officers  of  the  brigade  but  two  were  killed. 

An  English  correspondent  who  rode  over  the  battle- 
field noted  the  following  interesting  facts: 

Our  men  were  for  the  most  part  hit  in  the  abdomen  and  legs, 
the  Boers  following  their  customary  plan  of  firing  low.  Several 
were  wounded  in  the  head  and  a  few  in  the  back,  the  latter  being 
accounted  for  by  the  severe  cross-fire  to  which  our  fellows  were 
at  one  period  of  the  action  exposed. 

I  found  in  a  lonely  bit  of  veldt  the  body  of  a  stalwart  young 
private  of  the  Scots  Guards.  The  soldier  lay  on  his  side  still 
clutching  his  rifle.  Not  far  off  was  a  Boer  with  a  pallid  face,  a 
grotesque  smile  over  fine  teeth,  and  eyes  glazed  in  death,  a  type 
of  scores  of  dead  Boers  reverently  interred  on  the  field  by  our 
burial  parties. 

Many  were  the  instances  of  individual  gallantry  and  patient 
endurance  of  suffering  which  the  special  correspondents  noted 
during  and  immediately  after  the  battle  on  the  part  of  both 
officers  and  men.  A  wounded  officer  of  the  Guards  rode  calmly 
to  the  field  hospital  in  the  rear  on  his  own  horse  in  order  that  the 
bearer  companies  might  attend  to  his  men.  He  received  my 
bottle  of  crystal  water  at  Fincham's  Farm  with  manifest  pleasure. 
It  was  a  satisfaction  not  less  keen  to  me  to  see  him  drink.  The 
day  was  fearfully  hot,  and  a  mouthful  of  water  was  veritable 
nectar  to  the  few  fortunate  enough  to  obtain  it.  Over  and  over 
again  I  replenished  my  bottle  at  the  farm  and  distributed  its  wel- 
come contents  amonst  tiie  wounded  and  the  panting,  toiling 
officers  and  men.  Two  brothers,  both  belonging  to  the  Nor- 
thumberland Fusiliers,  were  brought  in  together.  They  had 
fought  in  brotherly  emulation  side  by  side,  and  each  was  badly 
wounded  in  the  thigh  by  a  Boer  bullet. 

Sergeant  Holmes  and  I^rivates  Longdon  and  Williams,  of  the 
Northampton  Regiment,  deserve  conspicuous  mention  even  on  a 
day  which  produced  heroes  by  the  score.  They  were  told  off  to 
look  after  the  wounded,  and  throughout  the  fierce  hail  of  bullets 
from  the  Boer  marksmen,  hidden  on  the  two  biggest  kopjes,  they 
did  their  work  as  coolly  as  though  at  a  St.  John's   Ambulance 


METHUEN'S  KIMBERLEY  RELIEF  COLUMN.    193 

class.  One  of  the  men  of  their  regiment  to  whom  they  minis- 
tered had  been  struck  three  times  in  the  back  but  did  not  seem 
to  be  mortally  hurt,  and  numerous  miraculous  escapes  of  the 
same  kind  have  been  reported  to  me. 

A  Northampton  man  said  to  me  that  "the  Boers  were  as 
thick  as  hornets."  A  Guardsman  remarked,  "Omdurman  was 
child's  play  to  this."  He  had  helped  to  storm  the  big  kopjes.  I 
saw  the  Guardsmen  perform  that  particular  bit  of  work  with  the 
Northampton  men.  They  charged  over  natural  breastworks  of 
formidable  boulders  on  the  Boer  flank  in  a  manner  which  it  is 
doubtful  if  any  other  troops  in  the  world  could  have  equaled. 

After  Saturday's  battle,  General  Methuen's  column 
rested  on  Sunday.  It  advanced  fifteen  miles  northward 
on  Monday  and  at  night  the  column  halted  close  to  the 
Modder  River.  In  front  of  it  lay  a  Boer  army  of  equal 
strength  and  strongly  intrenched. 

General  Methuen's  account  of  the  battle  which  fol- 
lowed is  concise,  but  it  was  some  days  before  his  casualties 
were  made  known.  His  official  dispatch  is  herewith 
given: 

MoDDER  River,  Tuesday,  Nov.  28. — Reconnoitered  at  5  a.m. 
enemy's  position  on  River  Modder  and  found  them  strongly 
intrenched  and  concealed.  No  means  of  outflanking,  the  river 
being  full.  Action  commenced  with  artillery,  mounted  infantry 
and  cavalry  at  5 :3o. 

Guard  on  right,  Ninth  Brigade  on  left,  attacked  position  in 
widely  extended  formation  at  6 130,  and,  supported  by  the  artil- 
lery, our  force  fovmd  itself  in  front  of  the  whole  Boer  force, 
8,000  strong,  with  two  large  guns,  four  Krupps,  etc. 

The  naval  brigade  rendered  great  assistance  from  the  rail- 
way. 

After  desperate,  hard  fighting,  which  lasted  ten  hours,  our 
men,  without  water  or  food,  and  in  the  burning  sun,  made  the 
enemy  quit  his  position. 

General  Pole-Carew  was  successful  in  getting  a  small  party 
across  the  river,  gallantly  assisted  by  300  sappers. 


194   METHUEN'S  KIMBERLEY  RELIEF  COLUMN. 

I  speak  in  terms  of  high  praise  of  the  conduct  of  all  who 
were  engaged  in  one  of  the  hardest  and  most  trying  fights  in  the 
annals  of  the  British  army.  If  I  can  mention  one  arm  particu- 
larly, it  is  two  batteries  of  artillery. 

METHUEN. 

The  Boer  forces  were  commanded  by  Cronje,  with 
Colonel  Richard  Albrecht,  a  former  Austrian  officer,  an 
expert  artillerist  and  strategist,  in  charge  of  the  artillery. 

The  Boers  occupied  a  strongly  intrenched  position, 
their  front  extending  five  miles  along  the  bank  of  the 
stream.  They  were  well  supplied  with  artillery  and 
fought  desperately. 

The  British  force  consisted  of  the  second  battalion  of 
the  Coldstream  Guards,  the  first  battalion  of  the  Scots 
Guards,  the  third  battalion  of  the  Grenadier  Guards,  the 
first  battalion  of  the.  Northumberland  Fusiliers,  the  second 
battalion  of  the  Yorkshire  Light  Infantry  (the  King's 
Own),  a  part  of  the  First  Regiment,  the  Ninth  Lancers, 
the  mounted  battalion  of  the  Royal  North  Lancashire 
Infantry,  three  batteries  of  field  artillery  and  the  first 
battalion  of  the  Argyll  and  Sutherland  Highlanders 
(Princess  Louise's). 

The  latter  reinforced  the  column  from  General 
Wauchope's  brigade  and  arrived  just  in  time  for  the  fight. 
The  battle  started  at  daybreak,  the  British  guns  shelling 
the  Boers'  left. 

The  Boers  replied  with  artillery,  Hotchkiss  and  Max- 
ims, and  the  artillery  duel  lasted  some  hours.  Then  there 
was  a  brief  lull  in  the  operations.  The  British  infan- 
try advanced  across  the  plain  toward  'the  river  in  two 
brigades.  The  Guards,  on  the  right,  were  met  by  an 
awful  hail  of  bullets  from  the  enemy's  sharpshooters, 
posted   close  to  the  river  on  the  opposite  bank.     They 


METHUEN'S  KIMBERLEY  RELIEF  COLUMN.    195 

had  no  cover  whatever,  and  were  simply  mowed  down. 
It  seemed  impossible  to  live  through  the  terrible  fire, 
but  the  brave  fellows  did  not  retreat  an  inch.  The  Boer 
fire  was  fatally  accurate. 

The  Scots  Guards  advanced  600  yards  before  they 
were  fired  on.  Then  they  had  to  lie  down  to  escape 
the  deadly  fusillade,  which  lasted  without  intermission 
throughout  the  day. 

The  Highlanders  made  several  attempts  to  force  a 
passage  of  the  river,  but  they  were  exposed  to  such  a 
murderous  enfilading  fire  that  they  had  to  retire  after 
they  had  suffered  terribly. 

Subsequently  a  party  of  the  Guards  got  over  and  held 
their  own  for  hours  against  a  vastly  superior  force.  The 
general  opinion  of  the  staff  was  that  there  had  never  been 
such  a  sustained  fire  in  the  anri^ls  of  the  British  army 
as  that  which  Methuen's  troops  had  to  face.  The  men 
fell  in  dozens  while  trying  to  rush  the  bridge. 

Among  the  many  heroic  deeds  one  of  the  most  con- 
spicuous was  that  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Codrington  of 
the  Coldstream  Guards,  Captain  Sellpein  of  the  Queens- 
land Contingent,  and  a  dozen  members  of  the  Coldstream 
Guards,  who  jumped  into  the  river  and  swam  nearly  to 
the  other  side  in  the  face  of  a  steady  fire,  but  who  were 
forced  to  retire,  and,  joining  hands,  swam  back,  two  of 
their  number  being  nearly  drowned  in  the  retreat. 

The  British  guns  kept  up  a  heavy  fire  all  day  and 
considerable  damage  was  wrought  on  the  Boer  position. 
Night  put  an  end  to  the  terrible  bloodshed.  The  infan- 
try brigade  was  dreadfully  cut  up. 

The  Boers  retreated  at  night,  taking  their  guns  with 
them,  and  the  British  occupied  their  position.  The  bat- 
tle was  conducted  with  unprecedented  stubbornness  on 


196    METHUEiTS  KIMBERLEY  RELIEF  COLUMN. 

both  sides.  There  was  one  continuous  roar,  hke  the 
explosion  of  countless  cannon-crackers.  There  was  no 
flinching  on  either  side,  and  not  a  moment's  pause. 

For  five  hours  the  British  batteries  poured  tons  of 
shrapnel  and  shells  into  t*he  Boer  positions.  Lord 
Methuen  had  twenty-two  guns,  and  each  fired  an  average 
of  200  rounds.  The  Boers  had  an  almost  equal  number 
of  guns,  which,  it  is  reported,  were  mostly  served  by 
French  and  German  artillerists. 

The  Boers  had  occupied  the  position  seven  weeks 
before,  and  had  spent  the  interval  in  fortifying  and  ren- 
dering it,  as  they  considered,  impregnable.  They  did 
not  seem  to  fear  to  spend  their  ammunition,  and  their 
guns  were  well  and  smartly  handled. 

Owing  to  the  bend  of  the  river  on  the  right,  the  Boers 
had  an  opportunity  of  cross-firing  on  the  British  attack. 
A  Boer  Hotchkiss  was  directed  with  marvelous  accuracy 
against  a  British  Maxim,  killing  the  sergeant  in  charge, 
wounding  an  officer  and  disabling  the  gun.  This  occurred 
quite  at  the  beginning  of  the  engagement.  Whenever 
the  Boer  fire  was  silenced  in  one  direction  it  was  immedi- 
ately reopened  in  another. 

Owing  to  the  terrific  fire,  nobody  on  the  plain  was  out 
of  reach.  Stretcher-bearers  found  it  impossible  to  go  for- 
ward in  the  few  cases  they  were  called  upon  to  attend, 
and  the  wounded  were  compelled,  if  possible,  to  crawl  out 
of  the  lines.     No  quarter  was  given  on  either  side. 

On  the  following  morning  at  daybreak  the  British 
fired  a  few  shells  into  the  village.  Getting  no  response, 
a  patrol  of  cavalry  crossed  the  river  and  found  the  Boer 
camp  deserted. 

The  British  casualties  were  475. 

Among  the  distinguished  officers  killed,  were  Lieuten- 


ME  THUEN'S  KIMBERLH  V  RELIEF  COL  UMN.     1 9  7 

ant-Colonel  Henry  P.  Northcott,  deputy-assistant  adjutant 
general  on  Lord  Methuen's  staff,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Horace  Robert  Stofford  of  the  Second  Coldstream 
Guards. 

Among  the  wounded  were  Lord  Methuen  (slight), 
Major  Count  Gleichen,  a  son  of  the  late  Prince  Victor 
Hohenlohe  and  a  grandnephew  of  the  Queen;  Lieutenant 
the  Honorable  Edward  Lygon,  brother  of  Earl  Beau- 
champ,  and  Viscount  Acheson,  eldest  son  of  the  Earl  of 
Grosford. 

Lord  Methuen  lost  between  Witte  Puts  and  the 
Modder  River,  nearly,  if  not  quite,  1,000  men,  or  one- 
seventh  of  his  command  in  traversing  a  distance  of  fifty- 
five  miles.  The  bridge  across  the  Modder  had  been 
greatly  damaged  by  the  Boers,  and  it  was  necessary  to 
repair  it  before  an  advance  could  be  made.  The  weak- 
ened condition  of  his  column  demanded  reinforcements. 
Accordingly,  Methuen  awaited  the  needed  reinforcements 
while  he  repaired  the  bridge. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
THE  BATTLE  OF  STORMBERG. 

Second   Division   of  General  Buller's   Army   Corps    under  General  Gatacre 
.    Meets  with  a  Surprise  and  is  Forced  to  Retreat. 

N  DECEMBER  lo,  the  second  division  of  General 
Sir  Redvers  Buller's  army  corps,  under  com- 
mand of  General  Sir  William  Forbes  Gatacre, 
met  with  a  bloody  repulse  at  Stormberg  Junc- 
tion in  Northern  Cape  Colony.  The  Boers  were  com- 
manded by  Swanepoel  and  Olivier,  and  numbered  2,500. 
Stormberg  has  few  superiors  as  a  place  of  strategical 
importance  in  Northern  Cape  Colony.  It  is  a  railroad 
junction,  fifty  miles  northwest  of  Queenstown  and  eighteen 
miles  from  Burghersdorp.  The  Stormberg  Mountains 
which  surround  the  town  are  great  masses,  with  many 
precipices  and  covered  with  bowlders,  making  a  favorable 
stronghold  for  fighting  under  the  Boer  tactics.  The 
ascent  to  the  town  is  made  by  zigzag  trails,  which  for  a 
great  portion  of  the  distance  wind  between  precipitous 
declivities,  offering  exceptional  opportunities  for  am- 
buscades. 

During  the  early  weeks  of  the  war  Stormberg  was 
occupied  by  the  British  forces,  but  on  November  2  Gen- 
eral Buller,  learning  that  the  Free  State  Boers  had 
crossed  the  border  from  Smithfield  in  strong  force,  ordered 
the  town  evacuated,  the  troops  retreating  to  Queens- 
town. 

198 


THE  BATTLE  OF  STORMBERG.  201 

On  Sunday,  November  26,  the  Boers  in  force  occupied 
Stormberg,  thus  cutting  railroad  communication  between 
General  Gatacre,  with  6,000  troops  at  Queenstown,  and 
General  John  H.  B.  French  with  a  smaller  force  at 
Naauwpoort.  Immediately  after  the  occupation  of  the 
town  the  Boers  commenced  fortifying  the  place,  and  the 
move,  which  was  generally  considered  another  evidence 
of  aggressive  Boer  tactics  in  Northern  Cape  Colony, 
had  a  great  moral  effect  on  the  dissatisfied  Dutch  res- 
idents. 

In  the  last  week  in  November,  General  Gatacre,  having 
been  reinforced,  moved  north  and  occupied  Bushman's 
Hoek,  about  half-way  between  Queenstown  and  Molteno. 
On  December  2  he  moved  on  to  Putter's  Kraal. 

The  advance  of  General  Gatacre  from  Putter's  Kraal, 
which  ended  in  disaster  at  Stormberg,  had  a  two-fold 
motive.  His  intention  was  to  administer  signal  defeat  to 
the  Boers  in  order  to  check  the  spread  of  disaffection 
among  Dutch  residents  in  Northern  Cape  Colony.  This 
disaffection  had  been  increasing  at  a  rate  alarming  to  the 
British,  and  military  authorities  in  London  agreed  the 
quickest  curative  lay  in  aggressive  warfare.  General  Gat- 
acre was  so  instructed. 

His  second  motive  was  to  clear  the  way  for  his  advance 
to  join  Methuen's  column  should  such  a  course  be  deemed 
necessary.  En  7'outc  his  plan  was  to  unite  his  forces  with 
those  of  General  French. 

General  Gatacre 's  column  left  Putter's  Kraal  at  noon, 
December  9,  and  arrived  by  train  at  Molteno  the  same 
evening.  At  nine  o'clock  at  night  he  began  his  march 
toward  Stormberg,  expecting  to  surprise  the  Boers  by  an 
early  morning  attack.  It  was  a  memorable  march  over 
rocks  and  veldt.     There  was  no  sound   save  the  tramp 

Z2 


202  THE  BATTLE  OF  STORM  BERG. 

of  the   men  and  no  distinguishing  Hghts  whatever  were 
given. 

The  column  arrived  safely  within  a  couple  of  miles  of 
its  destination,  the  only  incident  of  the  march  being  an 
occasional  sudden  call  of  ' '  halt, "  under  the  belief  that 
the  Boers  were  near.  " 

Suddenly  a  terrific  fire  opened  simultaneously  on  the 
British  front  and  right  flank.  The  Royal  Irish  Rifles, 
which  formed  the  advance,  sought  shelter  behind  a  neigh- 
boring kopje,  and  were  speedily  joined  by  the  remainder 
of  the  column. 

It  was  soon  found,  however,  that  this  position  was  also 
covered  by  Boer  guns,  which  were  more  powerful  than 
had  been  supposed.  The  troops,  therefore,  sought  a 
safer  position  about  half  a  mile  away,  two  batteries  in  the 
meantime  engaging  the  Boers  and  covering  the  troops  in 
their  withdrawal. 

The  action  now  became  general  at  long  range,  and  a 
detachment  of  mounted  infantry  moved  northward  with  a 
view  of  getting  on  the  enemy's  right  flank.  Suddenly 
a  strong  commando  was  seen  moving  from  the  north,  and 
the  Royal  Irish  Rifles  and  the  Northumberland  Regiment 
were  sent  out  to  meet  it. 

It  was  soon  discovered,  however,  that  the  Boers  had 
machine  guns  well  placed,  and  the  British  were  compelled 
to  face  a  terrible  fire. 

Not  only  did  the  two  regiments  suffer  heavily  in  killed 
and  wounded,  but  the  major  part  of  their  force  was  taken 
prisoners. 

While  there  has  never  been  a  report  in  detail  of  the 
Stormberg  battle,  possibly  on  account  of  the  panic  among 
the  invaders  and  their  hasty  and  disorderly  retreat,  cer- 
tain facts  in  connection  therewith  are  obvious.      Gatacre, 


•  .  THE  BATTLE  OF  STORMBERG  203 

expecting  to  surprise  the  enemy,  was  himself  taken  by 
surprise. 

Finding  himself  completely  entrapped,  he  collected 
his  force  and  had  a  running  fight  from  ridge  to  ridge  for 
nine  miles  in  the  retreat,  losing  two  guns,  and  the  excel- 
lent handling  of  the  field  battery  alone  enabled  'the  main 
body  to  escape. 

The  Fusiliers  and  the  Irish  Rifles  were  probably  cap- 
tured in  small  groups  at  different  times,  and  many  of 
them  were  unable  to  join  the  column  when  the  retreat 
was  begun. 

The  Boers  brought  their  guns  on  the  tops  of  the 
kopjes  and  followed  the  retreating  troops  on  the  road  below 
for  miles,  sending  shell  after  shell  down  into  the  valley. 

General  Gatacre's  first  report  of  the  battle  was  con- 
tained in  a  few  words,  and  was  as  follows: 

Deeply  regret  to  inform  you  that  I  have  met  with  serious 
reverse  in  attack  this  morning"  on  Stormberg. 

I  was  misled  to  enemy's  position  by  guide,  and  found  imprac- 
ticable ground.  Gatacre. 

He  reported  as  his  casualties,  two  killed,  twenty-nine 
wounded  and  605  missing.  These  were  all  augmented 
by  later  reports,  which  showed  that  the  Boers  had  cap- 
tured 672  prisoners.  The  Boer  casualties  were  exceed- 
ingly small,  as  they  were  intrenched  and  took  the  British 
completely  by  surprise.  Gatacre's  second  report,  dated 
December  11,  is  as  follows : 

The  idea  to  attack  Stormberg  seemed  to  promise  certain  suc- 
cess, but  the  distance  was  underestimated  by  myself  and  the 
local  guides.  A  policeman  took  us  around  some  miles  and  con- 
sequently we  were  marching  from  9:30  p.m.  till  4  a.m,  and  were 
landed  in  an  impossible  position.  I  do  not  consider  the  error 
intentional. 


204  THE  BATTLE   OF  STORMBERG. 

The  Boers  commenced  firing  from  the  top  of  an  unscalable 
hill  and  wounded  a  good  many  of  our  men  while  in  the  open 
plain.  The  Second  Northumberlands  tried  to  turn  out  the 
enemy,  but  failed.  The  Second  Irish  Fusiliers  seized  a  kopje 
near  and  held  on,  supported  by  the  mounted  infantry  and  Cape 
police. 

The  guns  under  Jeffray  could  not  have  been  better  handled. 
But  I  regret  to  say  that  one  gun  was  overturned  in  a  deep  nullah 
and  another  sank  in  quicksand.  Neither  could  be  extricated  in 
the  time  available. 

Seeing  the  situation,  I  sent  a  dispatch  rider  to  Molteno  with 
the  news,  I  collected  and  withdrew  our  forces  from  ridge  to 
ridge  for  about  nine  miles.  The  Boers'  guns  were  remarkably 
well  served.     They  carried  accurately  5,000  yards. 

I  am  holding  Bushman's  Hoek  and  Cyphergat.  Am  sending 
the  Irish  Rifles  and  Northumberlands  to  Sterksstrom  to  recuper- 
ate. The  wounded  proceed  to  Queenstown.  The  missing 
Northumberlands  number  366,  not  306,  as  previously  reported. 

Gat  ACRE. 

The  following  report  of  the  battle  of  Stormberg  was 
sent  out  by  President  Steyn  of  the  Orange  Free  State: 

The  British,  with  six  cannon,  attacked  the  Boers  under 
Swanepoel  and  Olivier  and  stormed  the  Boers'  entrenched  posi- 
tions on  the  kopjes.  After  a  severe  fight  they  were  compelled 
to  surrender. 

The  prisoners  are  Majors  Sturges,  six  officers  and  360  non- 
commissioned officers  and  men  6f  the  Northumberlands,  and 
two  officers  and  about  310  non-commissioned  officers  and  men  of 
the  Irish  Fusiliers. 

It  is  impossible  to  state  the  number  of  dead  or  wounded 
British.  The  Boers  captured  three  cannon  and  two  ammunition 
wagons. 

General  Gatacre's  disaster  at  Stormberg  has  been 
blamed  for  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  country,  but  when 
the  war  began  there  were  no  official  maps  available  at 


THE  BATTLE  OF  STORM  BERG.  205 

Ca^e  Town,  and  therefore  it  is  probable  that  General 
Gatacre  is  still  without  them. 

On  December  12,  General  Gatacre  fell  back  to  Sterks- 
strom. 

The  following  official  dispatch  from  General  Forestier- 
Walker,  dated  at  Cape  Town,  shows  that  it  was  impossible 
to  obtain  a  correct  list  of  the  killed  and  wounded: 

The  Boers  decline  to  furnish  the  names  of  the  killed  or 
wounded.  They  say  they  buried  the  dead  and  are  sending  the 
prisoners  to  Bloemfontein. 

General  Gatacre's  defeat  was  the  most  serious  that 
the  British  had  sustained  up  to  that  time.  •  Its  effect  was 
to  increase  the  disloyalty  of  the  Cape  Colony  Dutch  and 
to  dampen  the  spirits  of  the  British  at  home.  Much  had 
been  expected  of  Gatacre.  He  was  a  soldier  of  proved 
courage  and  ability.  In  Burmah  he  soon  won  the  decora- 
tion of  the  Distinguished  Service  Order.  He  fought 
bravely  in  the  Soudan,  and  has  always  evinced  great 
ability  in  handling  large  bodies  of  men. 

Sir  William,  at  the  time  of  the  Stormberg  battle,  was 
fifty-six  years  old,  but  was  remarkably  young  looking  for 
that  age.  His  first  regiment  was  the  Seventy-seventh 
foot,  commonly  known  as  the  '  *  Die-Hards. "  He  spent 
some  years  in  India  previous  to  the  Burmah  campaign, 
and  then  returned  to  England  to  receive  his  promotion  to 
the  office  of  a  major-general  at  Aldershot.  The  general 
was  known  among  the  soldiers  as  ' '  Bill  Backacher. " 

His  chief  characteristic  was  tremendous  energy,  and 
although  he  made  great  calls  on  those  he  commanded  he 
never  spared  himself.  He  made  a  record  ride  in  India 
under  adverse  circumstances,  and  his  advance  in  the 
Chitral   campaign  contributed   much    to  its  success.     It 


2o6  THE  BATTLE   OF  STORM  BERG. 

was  due  to  the  constant  work  to  which  he  put  his 'men 
that  in  the  Soudan  campaign  he  was  able  to  make  the 
wonderful  forced  march  he  did  and  to  arrive  at  the  battle 
of  Atbara  in  the  very  nick  of  time. 

In  appearance  he  is  middle  height  and  spare  but  wiry 
form,  and  his  face  is  tanned  a  dark  brown  from  exposure 
to  all  sorts  of  climates.  He  wears  a  very  black  mustache. 
He  has  a  very  abrupt  manner,  speaks  but  rarely,  and 
when  he  does  goes  straight  to  the  point. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
METHUEN  WHIPPED  AT  MAGERSFONTEIN. 

After  Receiving  Reinforcements  at  Modder  River,  again  Attempts  a 
Forward  Movement  to  Relieve  Kimberley  and  is  Repulsed. 

HILE  the  events  narrated  in  the  preceding  chap- 
ter were  transpiring,  General  Methuen  was 
repairing  the  bridge  at  Modder  River,  awaiting 
reinforcements  and  making  general  preparation 
for  another  advance  on  the  forces  of  General  Cronje. 

The  Boers  in  the  meantime  had  not  been  inactive,  but 
had  intrenched  themselves  at  Magersfontein  just  north  of 
the  river. 

On  December  ii,  his  reinforcements  having  arrived. 
General  Methuen,  with  about  ii,ooo  men,  attacked  the 
Boer  position  in  front,  and  met  with  a  worse  repulse  than 
Gatacre  had  received  at  Stormberg.  In  some  respects 
the  battle  resembled  that  of  Stormberg,  the  assailants 
having  been  led  into  a  trap  and  having  attacked  at  the 
wrong  point. 

On  Saturday,  December  lo,  the  kopjes  occupied  by 
the  Boers  were  heavily  shelled  by  the  naval  brigade,  and 
the  next  day,  with  the  object. of  demolishing  the  Boers, 
the  whole  of  Lord  Methuen's  artillery  poured  a  hot  fire 
into  the  laager  and  the  kopjes. 

The  Boers  made  but  a  feeble  attempt  to  reply  with  the 
twelve  guns  at  their  disposal,  and  at  midnight  Lord 
Methuen  sent  Major-General  Wauchope  to  move  on  the 
Boer  position  with  troops  of  the  Highland  brigade,  con- 

207 


2o8   METHUEN  WHIPPED  AT  MAGERSFONTEIN. 

sisting  of  the  First  Highland  Light  Infantry,  the  First 
Argyll  and  Sutherland  Highlanders  and  the  Second  Sea- 
forths. 

They  were  led  by  guides  through  the  night,  the  dark- 
ness of  which  was  intensified  by  a  heavy  rainfall.  At  3:20 
o'clock,  while  still  in  quarter  column,  they  ran  into  an 
ambuscade  and  encountered  terrific  fire  from  trenches  at 
the  base  of  the  kopjes  in  occupation  of  the  Boers.  Al- 
though not  yet  daylight,  the  burghers'  volley  did  such 
tremendous  execution  at  a  range  of  three  hundred  yards 
that  the  British  troops  were  compelled  to  retreat. 

The  brigade  suffered  a  heavy  loss,  and  the  Royal 
Highlanders  in  particular  met  with  terrible  punish- 
ment, only  160  men  being  mustered  on  re-forming  the 
battalion. 

Nothing  more  could  be  done  until  the  rest  of  the  main 
body  had  come  up.  Then,  at  daylight,  the  British  artil- 
lery, consisting  of  thirty-one  guns,  began  a  bombardment 
which  lasted  throughout  the  day,  the  howitzers,  as  before, 
using  heavy  lyddite  shells. 

The  Boers  made  no  serious  attempt  to  reply  with  their 
guns,  but  their  rifle  fire  was  so  persistent,  concentrated 
and  well  directed  that  it  was  absolutely  impossible  for  the 
British  infantry  to  take  the  position  by  assault. 

In  the  course  of  the  forenoon  the  Gordon  Highlanders 
were  sent  to  the  front  by  Lord  Methuen  and  advanced 
with  the  utmost  gallantry  to  attack  the  Boer  center,  close 
to  where  lay  their  dead  and  wounded  comrades  of  the 
Highland  Brigade.  The  Boers  were,  however,  so  well 
intrenched  that  it  was  found  physically  impossible  to 
carry  the  position,  and  they  were  also  compelled  to 
retire. 

General  Methuen  then  gave  up  the  attack,   and  on 


METHUEN  WHIPPED  AT  MAGERSFONTEIN.    209 

Tuesday  morning  both  sides  occupied  the  positions  held 
before  the  fight. 

The  scientific  scheme  of  defense  devised  by  Colonel 
Albrecht,  the  Austrian  officer  in  charge  of  the  Boers' 
artillery  at  the  battle  of  Magersfontein,  was  well  adapted 
to  the  Dutch  method  of  fighting,  and  the  position,  of 
great  natural  strength,  was  an  insuperable  obstacle  to 
British  success,  at  least  on  the  first  day. 

Official  accounts  from  Pretoria  describe  the  fighting  as 
heavy,  and  assert  that  the  Boers  held  their  positions  and 
took  forty-one  prisoners. 

It  was  a  well-fought  battle  on  each  side,  with  the 
Dutch  and  British  alike  at  their  best  and  equally  stub- 
born and  inflexible. 

The  British  used  their  balloon  during  intervals  of  the 
engagement  for  directing  the  artillery  fire. 

The  Highland  Brigade  was  misled  while  marching  in 
the  dark  during  a  drenching  rain  and  suddenly  exposed 
to  a  destructive  enfilading  cross  fire. 

The  enemy's  position  had  not  been  properly  recon- 
noitered,  and  the  Highlanders  were  entangled  by  barbed 
wire  and  entrapped  while  marching  in  close  order. 

The  battle  opened  with  a  disastrous  repulse,  and  while 
there  was  fine  artillery  practice  afterward  and  the  Guards' 
Brigade  checked  a  flank  attack  by  the  Boers,  the  blunders 
at  the  outset  could  not  be  retrieved.  It  was  Stormberg 
over  again  within  twenty-four  hours. 

The  Highlanders  did  all  that  the  most  gallant  troops 
in  the  world  could  do,  but  it  was  impossible  to  face  the 
terrible  fire  of  the  Boers. 

The  British  artillery  saved  an  utter  rout  and  divides 
the  honors  of  the  day  with  the  Scots.  The  batteries 
worked  for  hours  under  a  galling  rifle  fire. 


2IO   METHUEN   WHIPPED  AT  MAGERSFONTEIN. 

According  to  the  Boer  reports,  it  was  impossible  for 
the  burghers  to  have  escaped  loss.  One  Boer  prisoner  said 
a  single  lyddite  shell  killed  or  wounded  a  number  of  his 
comrades,  and  that  two  other  shells  burst  over  two  bodies 
of  Boers  ensconced  behind  the  range. 

While  the  Guards  were  advancing  on  the  plain,  which 
the  Boers  were  shelling  from  the  adjoining  ridges,  they 
encountered  and  cut  up  a  strong  Boer  picket  posted 
on  a  hill  for  purposes  of  observation.  All  the  members 
of  the  picket  were  either  killed,  wounded  or  taken 
prisoners. 

All  agree  that  the  Boers  fought  throughout  with  the 
utmost  gallantry.  Their  sharpshooters  seldom  missed 
the  mark. 

A  Seaforth  Highlander  says  while  he  was  lying 
wounded  on  the  field  he  saw  a  Boer  of  typical  German 
appearance,  faultlessly  dressed,  with  polished  top  boots, 
a  shirt  with  silk  ruffles,  and  a  cigar  in  his  mouth,  walking 
among  the  ant  hills,  picking  off*  the  British.  He  was 
quite  alone,  and  it  was  apparent  from  the  frequent  use  he 
made  of  field  glasses  that  he  was  singling  out  officers. 

A  wounded  Boer  says  that  a  lyddite  shell,  fired  on 
Sunday,  fell  in  the  middle  of  an  open  air  prayer-meeting 
held  to  offer  supplications  for  the  success  of  the  Boer 
arms. 

All  the  wounded  were  full  of  praise  for  the  treatment 
they  received  from  the  medical  department  on  the  battle- 
field. 

The  British  casualties  show  a  total  of  963,  of  which 
number  seventy  were  officers. 

The  Black  Watch  was  the  heaviest  sufferer.  Of  the 
rank  and  file  forty-two  were  killed,  182  were  wounded, 
and  1 1 1  are  missing. 


METHUEN   WHIPPED  AT  MAGERSFONTEIN.    211 

An  official  dispatch  from  a  Boer  commander  contained 
the  following  with  reference  to  casualties: 

The  Boers  captured  a  great  quantity  of  loot,  including  200 
Lee-Metfords,  cases  of  cartridges  and  hundreds  of  bayonets. 
Great  numbers  of  the  British  have  retired  from  Tweo-Rivieren 
in  the  direction  of  Belmont. 

The  loss  of  the  British  was  very  great.  There  were  heaps 
of  dead  on  the  field.  The  wounded  are  being  attended  to  tem- 
porarily at  Bissels'  farm.  The  sappers  and  miners  must  have 
suffered  severely.  The  Boers  suffered  heavy  losses  in  horses.  1 
cannot  otherwise  describe  the  battle-field  than  as  a  sad  and 
terrible  slaughter. 

Monday  was  for  us  a  brilliant  victory.  It  has  infused  new 
spirit  into  our  men,  and  will  enable  them  to  achieve  greater 
deeds. 

Among  the  British  officers  killed  was  Major-General 
Andrew  G.  Wauchope,  He  was  a  fighter  who  never 
knew  what  fear  meant.  He  saw  his  first  blood  in  the 
Ashantee  war  of  1873-74,  and  was  wounded  severely  in  the 
Soudan  and  in  Egypt,  four  times  altogether.  His  bravery 
had  been  gloriously  rewarded.  He  was  decorated  with 
the  Order  of  the  Bath  and  with  the  Order  of  Michael  and 
George.  He  was  a  brigadier-general  of  the  First  Brigade 
in  the  Egyptian  expeditionary  force  of  1898.  He  entered 
the  army  in  1865.  The  rank  of  colonel  was  his  actual 
rank  and  his  title  of  major-general  only  temporary. 

General  Wauchope  commanded  the  Royal  Highland- 
ers, better  known  as  the  '  'Black  Watch. "  His  body  was 
found  close  to  the  Boer  trenches. 

The  Royal  Highlanders  constitute  one  of  the  most 
famous  regiments  in  the  British  army.  Its  sobriquet  of 
'  'Black  Watch"  comes  from  its  uniform.  In  1 730  the  regi- 
ment consisted  of  six  companies,  styled  the  Independent 


212  METHUEN  WHIPPED  At  MAGERSFONTEW. 

Companies  of  the  Black  Watch.  Their  principal  duties 
were  to  keep  under  control  the  disaffected  elements  on 
the  lowland  frontier.  In  1839  all  of  the  companies  were 
formed  into  a  regiment  and  placed  under  command  of  the 
Earl  of  Crawford.  Subsequently,  retaining  almost  entirely 
its  original  Highland  character,  the  regiment  became  one 
of  the  most  valuable  in  the  British  army,  it  being  famed 
for  its  brilliant  achievements. 

When  the  Highlanders  met  the  murderous  point-blank 
fire  of  the  Boers  about  200  were  mowed  down.  The 
Black  Watch  Regiment,  on  re-forming,  were  able  to 
muster  only  160  men. 

A  detachment  of  Boers,  posted  among  some  thick 
bushes  to  the  east,  maintained  a  most  destructive  fire  on 
the  British  right.  With  the  remarkable  talent  for  taking 
cover  which  the  Boer  always  displays,  they  were,  gener- 
ally speaking,  virtually  invisible,  and,  although  the  Boer 
artillery  was  practically  silenced,  their  rifle  fire  was  so  per- 
sistent and  concentrated,  as  well  as  usually  well  aimed, 
that  it  was  absolutely  impossible  for  the  British  infantry 
to  take  the  position  by  assault.  At  the  first  advance  of 
the  Highlanders  the  Boer  shooting,  probably  owing  to  the 
darkness,  was  somewhat  high.  Otherwise  the  British 
losses  would  have  been  still  heavier. 

The  ,  most  prominent  officer  killed  after  General 
Wauchope  was  the  Marquis  of  Winchester,  major  of  the 
Second  Coldstreams,  Apart  from  being  the  premier  mar- 
quis, with  a  title  dating  from  1551,  and  having  the  unique 
hereditary  honor  of  bearing  the  cap  of  dignity  before  the 
sovereign  at  a  coronation,  he  was  a  gallant  soldier  who  had 
rendered  useful  service  in  the  Soudan. 

Lieutenant-Colonels  Goode  and  Goff  and  Major  Milton, 
all  well  known  in  the  service,  were  also  among  the  killed, 


METHUEN   WHIPPED  AT  MAGERSFONTEIN.    213 

with  Captain  Clark  of  the  Seaforth  Highlanders,  who  had 
won  medals  and  decorations  in  three  campaigns. 

Lieutenant  Wauchope,  who  was  serving  on  his  father's 
brigade  staff,  was  wounded,  so  that  there  was  more  bad 
news  for  the  gallant  general's  widow. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Codrington,  a  popular  officer  of  the 
Coldstreams,  headed  the  list  in  the  Guards'  Brigade. 

The  following  is  General  Methuen's  official  report  of 
the  battle: 

Our  artillery  shelled  a  very  strong  position,  held  by  the 
enemy,  in  a  long,  high  kopje,  from  4  o'clock  until  dusk  Sunday. 
It  rained  hard  last  night. 

The  Highland  brigade  attacked  the  south  end  of  the  kopje  at 
daybreak  on  Monday.  The  attack  was  properly  timed,  but 
failed. 

The  Guards  were  ordered  to  protect  the  Highlands'  right 
and  rear.  The  cavalry  and  mounted  infantry,  with  a  how- 
itzer artillery  battery,  attacked  the  enemy  on  the  left  and  the 
Guards  on  the  right,  supported  by  field  artillery  and  howitzer 
artillery.  They  shelled  the  position  from  daybreak,  and  at  i  :i5  I 
sent  the  Gordons  to  support  the  Highland  Brigade. 

The  troops  held  their  own  in  front  of  the  enemy's  intrench- 
ments  until  dusk,  the  position  extending,  including  the  kopje, 
for  a  distance  of  six  miles  toward  the  Modder  River. 

To-day  I  am  holding  my  position  and  intrenching  myself. 

I  had  to  face  at  least  12,000  men.     Our  loss  was  great. 

METHUEN. 

Notwithstanding  the  general's  statement  that  he  was 
holding  his  position  and  intrenching  himself  he  was  com- 
pelled to  retire  the  next  day. 

Tuesday  forenoon  the  Boers  brought  heavy  guns  into 
action.  The  British  artillery  replied,  but  failed  to  silence 
them.  General  Methuen  thereupon  withdrew  his  force 
out  of  range  and  concentrated  at  Modder  River. 


214   METHUEN  WHIPPED  AT  MAGERSFONTEIN. 

General  Cronje  made  a  modest  official  report  (except 
his  exaggerated  estimate  of  British  losses),  in  which  he 
said: 

The  Scandinavians  stormed  a  difficult  position,  but  it  became 
untenable,  and  they  suffered  severely.  I  was  unable  to  send 
help. 

The  British  were  in  overwhelming  force,  but  must  have  had 
at  least  2,000  men  put  out  of  action,  either  in  killed  or  wounded. 

Another  official  report  from  Captain  Finnhart  says: 

There  were  no  signs  of  surrender,  the  burghers  fighting  with 
conspicuous  bravery,  and  maintaining  their  positions  under 
heavy  British  fire.     Our  cannon  were  of  very  little  use. 

The  British  were  greatly  assisted  by  balloons. 

Twenty-four  ambulances  were  working  backward  and  for- 
ward between  the  fighting  line  and  the  enemy's  camp. 

Our  loss  is  not  definitely  known.  I  estimate  it  at  100  killed 
and  wounded. 

The  repulse  of  General  Methuen  at  Magersfontein, 
following  so  quickly  upon  the  heels  of  General  Gatacre's 
repulse  at  Stormberg,  caused  intense  excitement  in  Great 
Britain.  The  earher  battles  in  which  his  column  had 
been  engaged  previous  to  that  of  Modder  River,  while  not 
exactly  victorious,  were  not  defeats,  and  each  day  he  was 
expected  to  retrieve  himself.  His  defeat  at  Magersfon- 
tein, therefore,  aroused  the  British  public  to  a  sense  of 
the  serious  situation  which  confronted  their  troops. ' 

An  idea  of  British  opinion  may  be  had  from  the  fol- 
lowing quotation  from  a  speech  by  Admiral  Charles  Beres- 
ford: 

Large  reinforcements  to  all  our  auxiliaries  for  fighting  must 
be  dispatched  immediately,  and  more  ships  must  be  placed  in 
commission,  in  order  that  Great  Britain  may  be  prepared  for 
eventualities.  The  Boers  are  a  mobile  force,  and  they  have 
heavy,  modem  artillery.     We  need  more  quick-firing  guns. 


METHUEN   WHIPPED  AT  MAGERSFONTEIN.    215 

I  must  say  I  have  never  thought  that  we  were  sending  out 
enough  men.  When  once  it  was  known  that  we  had  to  send  an 
army  corps  I  told  Lord  Lansdowne — as  far  back  as  November  2 
— that  he  would  not  be  sending  enough.  In  the  fire  department 
when  it  is  thought  that  four  engines  are  needed  to  cope  with  a 
conflagration,  it  is  a  wise  plan  to  send  eight.  The  war  office 
should  have  acted  on  the  same  principle. 

This  war  is  one  of  the  biggest  upon  which  we  have  ever 
embarked,  owing  to  the  surrounding  political  circumstances. 

There  was  much  uneasiness  in  military  circles  owing 
to  the  possibility  of  Methuen's  lines  of  communication 
being  cut,  and  the  fact  that  General  John  H.  B.  French 
with  his  cavalry  column  operating  in  the  vicinity  of 
Colesburg  would  find  it  practically  impossible  to  reinforce 
Methuen's  column — General  French  being  almost  daily 
engaged  in  skirmishes  with  the  enemy. 

The  hope  of  Great  Britain,  therefore,  was  with  Buller, 
the  Commander-in-Chief,  who  had  attached  himself  to 
General  Clery's  column  and  was  moving  to  the  relief  of 
Ladysmith. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
THE  BLOODY  BATTLE  OF  TUGELA  RIVER. 

Main  Column  for  the  Relief  of  Ladysmith  Encounters    Boer  Forces  at 
Colenso — Bullet'^  Advance  Checked  with  Terrible  Loss. 

f, 

IHE  MAIN  COLUMN  of  General  Buller's  army 
destined  for  the  relief  of  Ladysmith  was  not  more 
successful  in  its  initial  advance  than  the  divi- 
sions under  Methuen  and  Gatacre. 
On  December  15,  this  column,  commanded  by  Major- 
General  Sir  Cornelius  Francis  Clery,  to  which  General 
Buller  and  staff  had  attached  themselves,,  attempted  to 
force  a  passage  of  the  Tugela  River  just  north  of  Colenso 
and  met  with  defeat  and  heavy  loss  in  men  and  guns. 

Natal  had  been  invaded  by  the  Boers  on  October  12. 
They  had  worked  southward  and  were  so  aggressive  that 
early  in  November  the  British  were  forced  to  evacuate 
Colenso,  the  garrison  there  falling  back  upon  Estcourt. 
For  a  time  the  latter  place  was  threatened  and  it  seemed 
as  if  Estcourt  would  be  placed  in  a  state  of  siege  similar 
to  Ladysmith.  This  southern  movement  on  the  part  of 
the  Boers  seems  to  have  been  a  ruse  of.  wily  General 
Joubert  to  divert  the  attention  of  the  British  while  he 
intrenched  himself  at  Tugela  River. 

Almost  immediately  after  the -arrival  of  General  Buller 
in  Africa  transport  after  transport  laden  with  English 
troops  commenced  to  arrive  at  Cape  Town,  and  the  re- 
inforcements were  hurried  as  fast  as  possible  to  join  the 

216 


GENERAL  BABBINGTON. 


SIR  ALFRED  MILKER. 


THE  BLOODY  BATTLlE  OF  TUGELA   RIVER.    219 

iforce  under  General  Clery,  who  had  gone  in  advance  of 
-thle  commander-in-chief  toward  Ladysmith. 

The  British  advance  force,  10,000  strong,  under  Gen- 
eral Clery,  closely  followed  by  5,000  more  troops,  was 
reported  to  have  reached  Frere  station,  about  fifteen 
miles  from  Colenso,  on  October  26.  There  it  was  found 
that  a  bridge  had  been  destroyed  by  the  Boers  and  would 
have  to  be  rebuilt  before  the  heavy  artillery  and  muni- 
tions of  war  could  be  taken  further. 

General  Buller,  who  had  moved  his  headquarters 
from  Durban  to  Pietermaritzburg,  arrived  at  Frere 
December  5,  and  took  charge  of  affairs.  It  was  not  until 
the  evening  of  December  8  that  the  new  bridge  was  com- 
pleted, and  the  British  forces  at  once  started  toward 
Ladysmith,  moving  as  far  as  Cheveley. 

In  the  meantime  the  Boers  had  massed  in  great  force 
on  the  farther  side  of  the  Tugela  River,  preparing  to  check 
Buller's  advance.  It  is  estimated  that  the  Boer  force 
massed  at  the  Tugela  amounted  to  15,000  men.  While 
waiting  for  the  British  to  rebuild  the  bridge  at  Frere  they 
had  ample  time  to  intrench  themselves  and  plant  their 
thirty-five  or  forty  guns  in  good  position  to  command  the 
enemy's  approach. 

The  battle  of  Tugela  River,  or,  as  it  is  unofficially 
called,  Colenso,  began  on  the  morning  of  December  15, 
by  an  advance  in  force  c^  the  part  of  the  British.  It  was 
a  repetition  of  the  familiar  story  of  concealed  Boers  and 
of  British  troops  marching  up  blindly  almost  to  the  very 
muzzles  of  their  enemy's  rifles. 

Although  the  bridge  across  the  Tugela  had  been 
destroyed,  General  Buller  discovered  that  there  were  two 
fordable  places,  and  it  was  his  intention  to  force  a  passage 
at  one  of  them.     This  he  attempted  to  do  by  sending 

13 


220    THE  BLOODY  BATTLE   OF  TUGELA   RIVER. 

General  Hart  to  attack  the  left  drift,  and  General  Hild- 
yard  the  right  road,  with  General  Lyttleton's  men  in  the 
center  to  support  either  Hart  or  Hildyard  as  needed. 
The  whole  force  was  virtually  engaged  for  a  distance  of 
three  miles. 

The  Boers  in  great  force  occupied  a  strong  intrenched 
position,  commanding  the  river  and  reaching  back  about 
800  yards  from  its  farther  side.  General  Hart's  brigade, 
on  the  left,  first  attempted  a  crossing  under  a  murderous 
Nordenfeldt  and  rifle  fire. 

The  Royal  Dublin  Fusiliers,  the  Royal  Inniskillin 
Fusiliers,  the  King's  Own  Scottish  Borderers  and  the  Con- 
naught  Rangers  crossed  with  superb,  unflinching  gallantry, 
but  the  position  on  the  other  side  was  found  utterly  unten- 
able. 

The  British  suffered  heavily  from  a  perfect  hail  of 
artillery  and  shrapnel,  while  their  own  artillery  was  very 
badly  mauled.  They  were,  therefore,  obliged  to  recross 
the  river. 

On  the  right  General  Hildyard's  brigade,  displaying 
equal  heroism,  succeeded  in  entering  the  village  of 
Colenso,  but  the  Sixth  Battery  encountered  a  murderous 
fire  and  was  compelled  to  retire,  leaving  guns  and  ammu- 
nition wagons  on  the  veldt.  This  brigade  also  was 
obliged  to  fall  back. 

Meanwhile  General  Barton's  brigade  also  failed  to  take 
possession  of  Hlanwri  Hill  as  was  intended. 

At  that  moment  General  Buller  heard  that  the  whole 
of  the  artillery  he  had  sent  back  to  Hildyard,  namely,  the 
Fourteenth  and  Sixty-fifth  field  batteries  and  six  naval 
twelve-pounder  quick-firing  guns,  under  command  of 
Colonel  Long,  were  out  of  action. 

Colonel  Long,    in  his    desire  to    be    within  effective 


THE  BLOODY  BATTLE   OF   TUGELA   RIVER.    221 

range,  his  artillery  being  outclassed,  advanced  close  to  the 
river,  which  proved  to  be  full  of  Boers,  who  suddenly 
opened  "a  galling  fire  at  close  range,  killing  all  of  his 
horses  and  most  of  his  men.  His  guns,  eleven  in  num- 
ber, fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Boers. 

The  cavalry  under  Lord  Dundonald,  which  might 
have  been  used  in  thwarting  the  counter-attack  of  the 
Boers  on  the  right,  were  engaged  in  assailing  a  strong  posi- 
tion in  the  earlier  part  of  the  battle,  but  were  finally  of 
some  use  in  protecting  the  right  flank  during  the  retreat. 
The  capture  of  Long's  guns,  and  Dundonald's  futile 
charges,  were  the  closing  incidents  of  a  disastrous  day  for 
the  Briti'sh. 

The  Dutch  defense  was  clearly  most  cleverly  con- 
ducted. The  Boer  batteries  remained  silent  under  a 
heavy  fire,  and  their  positions  were  not  unmasked  until  the 
British  troops  were  exposed  without  cover. 

The  oldest  war  correspondents  said  they  had  never 
seen  anything  comparable  with  the  deadly  fire  poured 
upon  the  British,  and  the  bravery  the  latter  displayed  in 
the  face  of  it.  The  British  mounted  infantry  and  irregular 
corps,  with  two  batteries  of  artillery,  managed  to  take  the 
Colenso  road  bridge  and  eventually  crossed  the  river,  but 
the  Boer  rifle  fire  prevented  them  from  pushing  on,  and 
the  battery  was  abandoned. 

The  naval  contingent  weated  an  immense  furore, 
engaging  the  Boers  single-handed,  and  hailing  shrapnel 
and  lyddite  shells  on  the  fortifications  north  of  the  town 
in  a  vain  effort  to  silence  the  murderous  fire  of  the  Boers 
while  the  British  forced  the  passage  of  the  river. 

The  advance  of  the  Second  Brigade  along  the  road 
leading  to  the  bridge,  in  the  face  of  a  deadly  fusillade,  is 
described  as  magnificent.     The  British  forced  their  way 


222    THE  BLOODY  BATTLE   OF  TUGELA   RIVER. 

across  the  fire  zone  under  a  perfect  storm  of  bullets  from 
the  invisible  Boers.  The  patter  of  the  bullets  on  the  dry 
plain,  it  is  added,  raised  the  dust  like  heavy  drops  of 
water.     The  heat  throughout  was  intense. 

Many  deeds  of  heroism  were  done.  Men  returned  to 
the  fire  zone  to  bring  out  wounded  comrades,  and  in  one 
case  a  corporal  succeeded  in  dressing  the  injuries  of  two 
men  under  a  murderous  fusillade. 

The  total  British  casualties  were  i,io8,  of  which  144 
were  killed,  743  wounded  and  221  missing. 

Among  the  wounded  were  Colonel  Long,  commanding 
the  artillery;  Colonel  Brooke,  who  led-  the  first  attack 
upon  the  drift;  Captain  Roberts,  a  son  of  Lord  Roberts 
of  Candahar  (next  to  Wolseley,  England's  greatest 
living  fighter).  Captain  Roberts  died  of  his  wounds  several 
days  later. 

Among  the  prisoners  was  Colonel  Bullock,  command- 
ing the  Devon  Regiment.  The  Boer  losses  were  not 
known,  but  were  obviously  small,  as  the  capture  of  the 
British  artillery  early  in  the  engagement  gave  them  im- 
munity from  any  effective  fire  upon  their  intrenchments. 

General  Buller's  official  report  is  concise  and  soldierly. 
It  is  as  follows: 

Cheveley  Camp,  December  15,  6:20  P.M. — I  regret  to  report 
a  serious  reverse.  I  moved  in  full  strength  from  our  camp  near 
Cheveley  at '  4  o'clock  this  moaning.  There  are  two  fordable 
places  in  the  Tugela  River,  and  it  was  my  intention  to  force 
a  passage  through  at  one  of  them.  They  are  about  two  miles 
apart. 

My  intention  was  to  force  one  or  the  other  with  one  brigade," 
supported  by  a  central  brigade.  General  Hart  was  to  attack  the 
left  drift.  General  Hildyard  the  right  road  and  General  Lyttleton 
was  to  take  the  center  and  support  either.  Early  in  the  day  I 
saw  that  General  Hart  would  not  be  able  to  force  a  passage  and 


THE  BLOODY  BATTLE  OF  TUG  EL  A   RIVER.    223 

I  directed  him  to  withdraw.  He  had,  however,  attacked  with 
great  gallantry,  and  his  leading  battalion,  the  Connaught 
Rangers,  I  fear,  suffered  a  great  deal.  Colonel  I.  G.  Brooke  was 
seriously  wounded. 

I  then  ordered  General  Hildyard  to  advance,  which  he  did, 
and  his  leading  regiment,  the  East  Surrey,  occupied  Colenso 
station  and  the  houses  near  the  bridge.  At  that  moment  I  heard 
that  the  whole  artillery  I  had  sent  to  support  the  attack — the 
Fourteenth  and  Sixty-sixth  field  batteries  and  six  naval  twelve- 
pounder  quick-firers,  under  Colonel  Long — had  advanced  close  to 
the  river  in  Long's  desire  to  be  within  effective  range.  It  proved 
to  be  full  of  the  enemy,  who  suddenly  opened  a  galling  fire  at 
close  range,  killing  all  their  horses,  and  the  gunners  were  com- 
pelled to  stand  to  their  guns.  Some  of  the  wagon  teams  got 
shelter  for  troops  in  a  donga,  and  desperate  efforts  were  being 
made  to  bring  out  the  field  guns. 

The  fire,  however,  was  too  severe,  and  only  two  were  saved 
by  Captain  Schofield  and  some  drivers  whose  names  I  will  furnish. 

Another  most  gallant  attempt  with  three  teams  was  made  by 
an  officer  whose  name  I  will  obtain.  Of  the  eighteen  horses 
thirteen  were  killed,  and  as  several  drivers  were  wounded,  I 
would  not  allow  another  attempt,  as  it  seemed  that  they  would 
be  a  shell  mark,  sacrificing  life  to  a  gallant  attempt  to  force  the 
passage.  Unsupported  by  artillerj^  I  directed  the  troops  to  with- 
draw, which  they  did  in  good  order. 

Throughout  the  day  a  considerable  force  of  the  enemy  was 
pressing  on  my  right  flank,  but  was  kept  back  by  mounted  men 
under  Lord  Dundonald  and  part  of  General  Barton's  Brigade. 

The  day  was  intensely  hot  and  most  trying  on  the  troops, 
whose  conduct  was  excellent.  We  have  abandoned  ten  guns  and 
lost  by  shell  fire  one.  The  losses  in  General  Hart's  brigade  are, 
I  fear,  heavy,  although  the  proportion  of  severely  wounded,  I 
hope,  is  not  large.  The  Fourteenth  and  Sixty-sixth  field  batteries 
also  suffered  severe  losses.  We  have  retired  to  our  camp  at 
Cheveley.  Buller, 

Commander-in-Chief. 

General  Schalkenberger,  who  commanded  the  Boers 
at  Tugela  River  (General  Joubert  being  on  the  sick  list), 


2  24     THE  BLOODY  BATTLE   OF  TUGEUi   RIVER. 

reported  that  his  losses  were  thirty  killed  and  wounded. 
He  sent  the  following  official  report  of  the  battle : 

Friday  at  dawn  the  long  expected  day  arrived.  The  Pretoiia 
4ptachment  of  artillery  gave  the  alarm.  General  BuUer's  Lady- 
smith  relief  column  was  in  battle  array,  advancing  on  our 
position,  close  to  the  Tugela  and  Colenso.  The  center  consisted 
of  an  immense  crowd  of  infantry,  flanked  on  both  sides  by  two 
batteries,  with  strong  bodies  of.  cavalry  supporting.  Our 
artillery  preserved  absolute  silence,  not  disclosing  its  position. 
Two  batteries  came  within  rifle  distance  of  our  foremost  position, 
and  the  Rangers  then  opened  fire  with  deadly  effect.  Our  artillery 
also  opened  and  apparently  absolutely  confused  the  enemy,  who 
were  allowed  to  think  the  bridge  was  open  'for  them  to  cross. 
Their  right  flank  in  the  meantime  attacked  our  southern- 
most position,  but  the  Mauser  rifle  fire  was  so  tremendous  that 
they  were  rolled  back  like  a  spent  wave,  leaving  ridges  and  ridges 
of  dead  and  dying  humanity  behind. 

Again  the  British  advanced  to  the  attack,  but  again  fell  back, 
swelling  the  heaps  of  dead.  The  cavalry  charged  to  the 
river,  where  the  Ermolo  commando  delivered  such  a  murder- 
ous fire  that  two  batteries  of  cannon  had  to  be  abandoned,  which 
have  fallen  into  our  possession.  Twice  the  British  essayed  to 
bring  horses  to  remove  them.  The  first  time  they  succeeded  in 
hitching  on  to  one  cannon,  and  on  the  second  trial  the  horses  and 
men  fell  in  a  heap.  Then  the  British  were  in  full  retreat  to  their 
camp,  whence  they  sent  a  heavy  shrapnel  fire  on  Bulwer  bridge, 
across  the  Tugela,  to  prevent  the  burghers  from  recovering  the 
cannon. 

The  French  attache,  Villebois,  and  the  German  attache, 
Braun,  say  the  fight  could  not  have  been  improved  upon  by  the 
armies  of  Europe.  Generals  Botha  and  Trichart  were  always  at 
the  most  dangerous  points  of  the  fighting.  Eleven  ambulances 
removed  the  English  dead  and  wounded. 

Such  a  tremendous  cannonade  has  seldom  been  heard.  The 
veldt  for  miles  was  covered  with  dead  and  wounded.  It  was  a 
most  crushing  British  defeat.  Nine  of  the  cannon  have  since 
been  brought  across  the  river.  The  British  asked  for  and  were 
granted  a  twenty-four  hours'  armistice. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
ROBERTS  AND  KITCHENER  TO  THE  FRONT. 

England's    Rude    Awakening  —  British    Empire  at   Stake  —  Call  for   50,000 

Additional  Troops. 

I  HE  series  of  reverses  suffered  by  British  arms  in 
South  Africa  aroused  the  British  war  office  to  a 
full  sense  of  the  serious  situation.  General 
Buller's  defeat  came  as  a  shock  and  a  surprise. 
The  Commander-in-Chief  had  flippantly  remarked,  or 
rather  a  London  paper  had  remarked  for  him,  that  he 
would  eat  his  Christmas  dinner  in  Pretoria.  Christmas 
found  him  some  miles  back  from  the  Tugela  River,  where 
he  had  met  the  worst  defeat  of  the  war. 

The  receipt  of  news  of  the  battle  of  Tugela  River  was 
followed  by  a  cabinet  meeting  at  which  it  was  decided  to 
send  Field  Marshal  Roberts  of  Candahar  to  supersede 
Sir  Redvers  Buffer  as  commander-in-chief,  with  Lord 
Kitchener  of  Khartum  as  chief-of-staff. 

While  this  action  was  plainly  condemnatory  of  General 
Buffer,  the  British  war  office  attempted  to  "  let  him  down 
easy"  by  declarmg  that  the  appointment  of  Generals 
Roberts  and  Kitchener  was  made  in  order  to  allow 
General  Buller  to  devote  his  entire  attention  to  affairs  in 
Natal. 

Throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  vast  British 
Empire  there  is  no  name  that  has  become  to  such  an 
extent  a  household  word  as  that  of  Field  Marshal  Lord 


226  ROBERTS  AND  KITCHENER 

Roberts,  popularly  known  as  ' '  Bobs. "  The  idol  of 
officers  and  soldiers  alike,  a  man  whose  deeds  and  career 
have  furnished  the  theme  of  many  a  stirring  and  patriotic 
verse.  Lord  Roberts  was  regarded  by  the  military  author- 
ities in  Berlin,  Vienna,  Paris  and  St.  Petersburg  as  the 
foremost,  and  perhaps  the  only  really  capable  British 
commander  of  the  Victorian  era,  his  celebrated  forced 
march  from  Cabul  to  Candahar  constituting  one  of  the 
finest  feats  of  English  arms  in  modern  times — a  feat  that 
called  forth  the  most  enthusiastic  praise  on  the  part  of 
that  past-master  of  military  science,  Field  Marshal  Count 
von  Moltke. 

' '  Bobs  "  is  the  smallest  holder  of  the  Queen's  com- 
mission, being  a  pygmy  as  regards  size.  It  is  sometimes 
said  that  small  men  are  inclined  to  be  self-assertive;  but 
there  is  no  soldier  of  the  Queen  who  is  more  free  from 
this  defect  than  the  little  Field  Marshal,  who  is  the  most 
modest  and  unassuming  of  officers.  Perhaps  no  stronger 
illustration  of  this  can  be  given  than  is  contained  in  his 
book  entitled  "Forty  Years  in  India."  Although  covered 
with  orders  and  decorations,  bestowed  upon  him  by  a 
grateful  sovereign  and  country,  there  is  no  trace  of  any 
insignia  on  the  portrait  which  adorns  the  frontispiece  of 
his  book,  and  throughout  the  pages  of  it  there  is  a  mani- 
fest effort  to  accord  to  others,' usually  his  subalterns,  the 
credit  which  they  themselves  are  the  first  to  acknowledge 
as  belonging  to  him. 

Lord  Roberts  is  no  soldier  of  fashion,  and  has  owed 
less  than  most  men  to  fortune.  No  brilliant  little  war  in 
Egypt  or  on  the  confines  of  Europe  ever  fixed  the  eyes  of 
London  society  on  his  strategy.  No  regiment  of  Guards 
ever  gave  eclat  to  his  victories.  Forty  years  of  his  life 
were  spent  in  hard  fighting  on  the  furthest  frontiers  of  the 


im 


TO    THE  FRONT.  227 

Empire,  and  he  won  his  way  up  step  by  step  through 
feats  of  personal  gallantry  and  of  generalship.  Less  than 
any  soldier  he  owes  his  advancement  to  popular  clamor. 
In  fact,  his  fellow  citizens  at  home  knew  relatively  little  of 
him  until  he  returned  to  England  after  two  score  years  in 
India,  much  as  a  great  Roman  commander  who  had  held 
the  Danube  might  have  returned  to  the  Eternal  City, 
adored  by  his  legions,  but  almost  a  stranger  to  his  fellow 
citizens. 

Since  he  has  been  back  in  England  the  people  have, 
however,  learned  to  know  and  appreciate  him,  and  if  any- 
thing could  have  softened  the  grief  caused  by  the  death  of 
his  only  son  from  wounds  received  in  battle  last  week,  it 
must  have  been  the  unanimity  with  which  the  Queen,  the 
entire  army  and  the  whole  of  the  British  people  turned 
toward  "Bobs"  in  the  hour  of  danger,  and  the  universal 
feeling  of  relief  that  was  expressed  when  it  was  learned 
that,  responding  to  the  nation's  call,  he  had  accepted  the 
chief  command  in  South  Africa. 

Like  so  many  English  officers,  Lord  Roberts  may  be 
said  to  have  laid  the  foundation  for  his  military  career  on 
the  cricket  fields  of  Eton,  and  at  nineteen  was  already 
fighting  the  Afghans  as  a  lieutenant  of  the  Bengal  Horse 
Artillery.  Before  he  was  five  and  twenty  he  had  had  five 
horses  shot  under  him  in  battle,  had  been  twice  wounded, 
repeatedly  mentioned  in  the  dispatches,  and  had  won  the 
Victoria  Cross,  which  constitutes  the  climax  of  every  Eng- 
lishman's ambition. 

Inasmuch  as  Lord  Roberts,  with  characteristic 
modesty,  refrains  from  giving  any  description  in  his  book 
as  to  how  he  won  his  Victoria  Cross,  the  only  reference  to 
the  matter  being  a  brief  mention  in  a  footnote  of  three 
lines  to  the  effect  that  it  had  been  awarded  to  him,  it  may 


228      .  ROBERTS  AND  KITCHENER 

be  just  as  well  to  state  that  it  was  conferred  upon  him  not 
for  one  but  for  several  feats  of  conspicuous  gallantry  at 
the  battle  of  Khodagange,  during  the  jNIutiny.  In  one  in- 
stance he  rescued  a  regimental  flag  from  several  Sepoys, 
attacking  them  single  handed  and  cutting  two  of  them 
down,  the  others  taking  to  flight.  On  the  same  day  he 
rescued  a  wounded  native  officer  from  several  Sepoys, 
killing  one  of  the  latter  on  the  spot  by  a  sweep  of  the 
saber,  which  split  the  man's  skull. 

*' Quick  as  lightning  and  tough  as  steel"  used  to 
be  the  description  applied  to  Lord  Roberts  during  his 
younger  days  out  in  India,  and  that  he  deserved  the 
qualification  thus  accorded  to  him  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  on  one  occasion  he  rode  from  Chamkanie  to  Rawal 
Pinde,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  miles,  over  frightfully 
rough  country,  in  a  little  less  than  twelve  hours.  The 
native  troops  were  convinced  that  he  bore  a  charmed  life. 
He  was  the  head  and  front  in  all  his  campaigns,  and  has 
invariably  been  the  first  to  lead  his  men  into  action. 

What  has  won  for  him  more  fame,  however,  than  any- 
thing else,  was  his  march  to  Candahar.  He  had  captured 
Cabul,  the  capital  of  Afghanistan,  after  the  massacre  of 
the  English  Envoy  there,  Sir  Louis  Cavagnari,  when 
news  was  suddenly  brought  to  him  of  the  crushing  defeat 
of  General  Burrows,  at  Maiwand,  the  routed  forces,  which 
had  lost  their  guns,  being  compelled  to  take  refuge  in 
Candahar,  where  they  were  besieged  by  Ayoob  Khan. 

Without  a  moment's  hesitation  Lord  Roberts  started 
with  a  force  of  ten  thousand  men  from  Cabul  to  relieve 
Candahar.  For  the  space  of  three  weeks  this  expedition 
disappeared  entirely  from  human  ken.  At  length  it 
emerged  from  the  trackless  and,  for  the  most  part,  water- 
less regions  between  Cabul  and  Candahar,  and  under  the 


TO    THE  FRONT  229 

walls  of  the  latter  city  fought  a  battle  and  won  a  brilliant 
victory,  inflicting  a  crushing  defeat  upon  the  Afghans. 

Next  to  Roberts,  Kitchener  is  England's  most  popular 
and  successful  general.  Like  Wellington,  Wolseley  and 
Roberts,  Major-General  Horatio  Herbert  Kitchener  is  an 
Irishman,  having  been  born  in  the  "  Kingdom  of  Kerry" 
some  forty-seven  years  ago.  He  is  tall  (standing  full  six 
feet),  and  dark  skinned — which  latter  is  but  natural  after 
twenty  years  of  service  in  Africa.  Finding  his  commission 
in  the  Royal  Engineers  too  peaceful,  he  fought  as  a  volun- 
teer in  the  two  great  European  wars  of  recent  times— r 
against  the  Prussians  with  General  Chanzy's  army  of  the 
Loire,  and  against  the  Czar's  soldiers  in  the  Balkans, 
under  Baker  Pasha.  But  most  of  his  service  has  been 
in  the  East,  where  he  first  went  in  charge  of  a  party  of 
surveyors  in  Palestine. 

Here  he  began  to  acquire  his  remarkable  knowledge  of 
Oriental  languages  and  tribes,  of  which  many  stories  are 
told.  For  example,  at  one  of  his  army  camps  on  the 
Nile,  two  Arab  date  sellers  were  arrested  as  suspected 
spies,  and  confined  in  the  guard  tent.  Shortly  afterward 
a  third  Arab  prisoner  was  hastily  bundled  into  the  tent. 
An  animated  jabbering  ensued  between  the  three,  and  in 
a  few  minutes,  much  to  the  astonishment  of  the  sentry, 
the  latest  arrival  drew  aside  the  doorway  and  stepped  out, 
remarking:    "All  right,,  sentry;  I'm  going  to  the  general." 

It  was  Kitchener.  Again,  only  a  few  minutes  passed 
when  an  orderly  hurried  up,  and  a  spade  was  handed  to 
each  of  the  two  Arabs,  who  were  marched  outside  the 
lines,  dug  their  graves,  and  were  shot.  They  were 
dangerous  spies  and  Kitchener  had  detected  them.  But 
once  the  general's  skill  iii  disguises  was  nearly  fatal  to 
himself.      He  was  working    at    a    water  mill  with    some 


ajo  ROBERTS  AND  KITCHENER    ■ 

natives,  whose  conversation  he  wished  to  hear,  when  a 
Tommy  Atkins  who  did  not  approve  of  * '  niggers " 
chanced  to  pass  by  and  expressed  his  dishke  with  a  stone, 
which  struck  Kitchener  on  the  head.  But  rude  as  this 
experience  was,  his  adventures  in  the  track  of  Strickland 
Sahib  in  Kiphng's  fiction  and  of  the  late  Sir  Richard  Bur- 
ton in  real  life  have  proven  of  yeoman  service  to  him  in 
his  brilliant  and  unchequered  African  career.  But  it  were 
ungenerous  to  forget  that  he  has  had  as  chief  adviser 
Slatin  Pasha,  whose  thirteen  years'  captivity  in  the  Sou- 
dan have  given  him  an  intimate  knowledge  of  Soudanese 
tribes. 

Probably  because  he  has  thus  been  a  wanderer  on  the 
face  of  the  earth — a  modern  Ulysses,  who  has  very  liter- 
ally "seen  many  men  and  known  their  minds" — perhaps 
also  because  he  has  been  a  terribly  busy  man  from  his 
early  youth.  Sir  Herbert  has  never  married.  In  his  forty- 
eighth  year  he  is  still  a  bachelor. 

Kitchener  began  his  career  by  very  slow  steps,  taking 
twelve  years  to  gain  his  captaincy  in  the  engineers.  But 
directly  his  chance  came  his  coolness  and  self-command, 
his  indomitable  energy,  and  his  miraculous  capacity  for 
hard  work  marked  him  out  as  a  man  of  action.  The 
turning  point  in  his  career  came  when  Gen.  Sir  Evelyn 
Wood  undertook  the  reorganization  of  the  Egyptian 
Army.  He  took  service  under  Wood  in  1882,  and  in 
1885  his  marvelous  knowledge  of  the  native  mind  and 
language  brought  him  to  the  front.  He  was  sent  ahead 
of  Sir  Garnet  Wolseley  to  deal  with  the  native  chiefs  and 
officials  whose  attitude  was  uncertain.  The  following 
picturesque  account  of  him  when  engaged  on  this  ticklish 
mission  was  written  by  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  the  Sir- 
dar soon  after  the  victory  of  Atbara: 


& 


TO    THE  FRONT.  231 

"  The  first  'time  I  saw  Kitchener  he  was  alone  and  un- 
armed among  the  semi-hostile  Arabs,  endeavoring  to  pxer- 
suade  them  that  their  interests  would  be  best  served  if 
they  took  part  with  British  and  Egyptian  forces  against 
the  dervish  rebellion.  It  was  a  strange  sight  to  see  this 
tall,  slim,  blue-eyed  Irishman,  armed  only  with  inimitable 
self-confidence  and  fearlessness,  arguing  with,  and  some- 
times threatening,  the  powerful  chiefs  who,  for  aught  he 
knew,  might  have  been  sworn  allies  of  the  tribe  that  had 
just  murdered  Col.  Donald  Stewart  and  Consul  Power 
not  many  miles  further  up  the  Nile. 

' '  When  persuasive  reasoning  failed,  he  did  not  shrink 
from  telling  these  people  what  their  punishment  would  be 
when  the  White  Emir  and  his  legions  came  upon 
them,  meaning  Lord  Wolseley  with  the  British  bat- 
talions that  were  then  toiling  slowly  up  the  Cataract. 
Those  brave  words,  in  which  there  was  no  doubt  a  touch 
of  boastfulness  pardonable  in  the  circumstances,  fre- 
quently gave  rise  to  angry  murmurs  and  sullen  looks,  but 
they  were  met  by  the  glance  of  eyes  that  would  not  have 
quailed  if  looking  at  grim  death — eyes  that  in  such 
moments  glow  so  curiously  that  the  light  in  them  seems 
fixed  as  if  suddenly  frozen. " 

It  was  Sir  Herbert  Kitchener  who  went  ahead  of  Sir 
Herbert  Stewart's  column  with  two  native  guides  in  the 
first  dash  for  the  wells  of  Gakoni.  Nc:ir  there  a  notorious 
robber  leader,  who  had  accompanied  the  Mahdists  in 
their  merciless  raids,  was  surprised  and  chased  by 
Nineteenth  Hussar  scouts.  He  and  his  few  followers 
would  probably  have  escaped  if  Kitchener,  who  was  well 
mounted,  had  not  overtaken  them.  Alone,  and  far  ahead 
of  the  Hussars,  he  closed  with  these  ferocious  free- 
booters, and  called  upon  them   to  surrender.     The  cool 


232  ROBERTS  AND  KITCHENER 

daring  that  had  so  often  succeeded  told  in-  this  moment. 
Deceived  by  it  into  the  behef  that  they  were  surrounded 
by  unseen  foes  whom  the  bold  Englishman  had  at  his 
command,  they  parleyed  and  were  lost,  for  this  gave  the 
Hussars  time  to  come  up  and  make  prisoners  of  the  band. 
It  was  a  bold  and  characteristic  act,  which  established 
•Kitchener's  reputation  with  British  soldiers. 

At  the  crisis  of  the  Dongola  expedition,  when  it 
became  necessary  to  seize  a  strategic  point,  so  that  sup- 
plies might  accumulate  there  before  the  Nile  got  too  low 
for  river  transport,  tropical  storms  of  violence  previously 
unknown  in  these  regions  washed  away  sections  of  the 
railway  on  which  these  supplies  were  in  a  great  measure 
dependent.  Following  upon  cholera  and  other  sickness 
in  his  corps,  this  fresh  disaster  seemed  overwhelming. 
But  he  stood  up  against  it  with  characteristic  fortitude. 

In  twenty-four  hours  the  distribution  of  forces  along 
the  line  of  communication  was  so  arranged  that  battalions 
could  be  set  'free  for  fatigue  work  on  the  railway.  He 
went  to  inspect  several  points  where  great  damage  had 
occurred,  looked  at  ruined  bridges  and  broken  embank- 
ments with  the  eye  of  an  engineer,  told  the  officers  that 
these  things  must  be  repaired  in  so  many  days;  and  then, 
confident  in  the  effect  of  that  word  * '  must, "  went  away, 
leaving  them  to  their  own  resources.  Though  the  task 
thus  set  seemed  in  some  cases  herculean,  it  was  done, 
and  trains  were  running  again  on  the  renewed  line  on  the 
very  day  which  he  had  named  for  the  completion  of  the 
work. 

The  culmination  of  the  Egyptian  campaign  in  the 
utter  rout  of  the  dervishes,  the  death  of  the  Khalifa,  the 
capture  of  his  capital,  the  evacuation  of  Fashoda  by 
the  French,    made  Great  Britain  undisputed  master  of 


TO    THE  FRONT.  233 

the   Nile  region,  and  brought  to  Kitchener  new  fame  and 
new  honors. 

Kitchener's  courage  in  battle  is  as  conspicuous  as  his 
faculty  for  organization,  whereby  he  has  been  enabled  to 
conduct  a  great  and  eventful  campaign  at  a  cost  which 
seems  ridiculously  small  by  comparison  with  others.  The 
Sirdar  is  a  strong  man,  and  his  faults  are  the  faults  of 
strength.  He  has,  if  anything,  too  little  sympathy  with 
or  tolerance  for  human  weaknesses.  Untiring  himself,  he 
expects  others  to  have  the  same  power  of  endurance,  ris- 
ing early  and  going  to  bed  late,  yet  always  about  and 
always  ready  for  action.  He  has  not,  perhaps,  made 
many  firm  friendships  since  his  rapid  rise  to  eminence 
began,  but  he  has  known  how  to  keep  the  old  ones,  and 
they  are  ready  to  go  wherever  he  leads. 


tHAPtfiR  XX. 
JOUBERT'S  APPEAL  TO  QUEEN  VICTORIA. 

An    Earnest     Representation    and     Historical     Reminder    from    the    Com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  Boers  to  the  British  Ruler. 

NE  DOCUMENT  in  connection  with  the  Boer- 
British  war  which  possesses  an  historical  value 
second  only  in  importance  to  the  ultimatum  of 
the  Transvaal  government,  is  General  Joubert's 
appeal  to  Queen  Victoria.  Reference  has  already  been 
made  to  it  elsewhere  in  this  volume,  and  as  its  historical 
value  is  sure  to  be  increased  with  years,  it  is  hereby  given 
in  full: 

Pretoria,  June  15,  1899. 

To    Her   Most    Gracious    Majesty   the    Queen    of    Great 
'  Britain  and  Ireland,  Empress  of  India,  etc. ,  etc. 

Your  Majesty: 

It  is  with  feelings  of  deepest  pain  and  distress  that 
the  undersigned  ventures  to  address  Your  Most  Gracious 
Majesty  at  this  critical  period,  and  in  view  of  the  dark 
future,  which,  as  a  cloud,  is  hovering  over  South  Africa, 
the  land  of  his  birth  and  home.  This  unhappy  situation 
has  been  brought  about  by  the  unjust  action  of  one  of 
Your  Majesty's  Ministers,  who,  perhaps  in  good  faith, 
though  upon  incorrect  information,  has  allowed  himself 
to  be  led  by  unscrupulous  fortune-seekers,  reckless  specu- 
lators and  insatiable  capitalists. 

234 


JOUBERTS  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN  VICTORIA.    237 

This  matter  will  be  reverted  to  again  during  the  course 
of  this  letter  by  Your  Majesty's  lowly  petitioner,  who 
desires,  first,  in  all  humility,  to  make  known  to  Your 
Majesty  who  he  is.  He  is  a  descendant  of  and  great- 
great-grandson  of  Pierre  Joubert,  one  of  the  Huguenots, 
who,  because  of  their  religious  belief,  were  obliged  to 
leave  their  homes  and  friends,  and  to  seek  refuge  from 
persecution  in  flight  to  South  Africa,  where  they  could 
serve  their  God  in  freedom.  He  settled  at  Fransch  Hoek, 
near  Cape  Town,  which  was  then  under-  the  administra- 
tion of  the  ' '  Hollandsche  Compagnie, "  and  became  soon, 
through  the  blessing  of  God,  one  of  the  richest  and  most 
influential  farmers  and  land  owners  there.  He  resided 
there  until  compelled  by  circumstances  to  remove  to  the 
district  of  Graaff-Reinet,  where  he  now  lies  buried — in 
the  land  of  my  birth,  that  passed  for  good  under  the  rule 
of  Great  Britain,  in  1806. 

Alas!  What  has  our  nation  not  experienced  and  suf- 
fered under  that  rule?  It  has,  perhaps,  never  been 
brought  to  Your  Majesty's  notice  why  these  people  could 
not  live  peacefully  in  their  land  of  adoption  and  birth. 
And  yet,  who  is  there  now  to  tell  you  thereof  ?  And  how 
would  he  begin?  It  would,  indeed,  be  tedious  to  relate 
everything  minutely,  Your  Majesty! 

The  discontent,  so  often,  and  to  his  detriment,  ascribed 
to  the  Boer  was  exaggerated  and  misrepresented,  as,  for 
instance,  in  the  matter  of  the  freeing  of  the  slaves,  when 
he  was  described  as  being  inhumanly  against  their  libera- 
tion. No!  Your  Majesty,  it  was  not  the  Christian  Boers' 
repugnance  to  the  emancipation,  but  his  opposition  to  the 
means  employed  in  effecting  same  under  the  blessed 
British  rule.  Is  Your  Majesty  perhaps  aware  how  the 
Boers  became  possessed  of  those  slaves?  They,  the 
14 


238    JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN   VICTORIA. 

Boers,  had  no  ships  to  convey  the  slaves  from  Mozam- 
bique and  elsewhere,  as  none  other  than  English  vessels 
were  allowed  to  bring  slaves  to  the  Cape  market;  there- 
fore, it  was  from  English  slave  ships  that  the  Boers  first 
bought  their  slaves,  and  in  this  manner  enjoyed  a  short 
season  of  prosperity;  for,  assfsted  by  their  dearly-bought 
slaves,  they  could  have  their  lands  ploughed  and  sown 
with  grain,  which,  under  the  blessings  of  Britannia's  laws, 
could  be  sold  for  not  more  than  i8d.  per  bag.  It  was 
thereafter  shipped  abroad  by  English  merchants  and  sold 
at  immense  profits.  And  then,  Your  Majesty,  the  Boer 
was  suddenly  told:  "Your  slaves  are  free,  and  you  will 
receive  compensation  to  such  and  such  an  amount  for 
them,  which  you  will  have  to  go  and  get  in  England. " 
Your  Majesty,  how  could  the  Boer  be  expected  with  his 
ox  wagon  or  horses  to  go  and  fetch  same?  To  have 
undertaken,  at  that  time,  a  voyage  so  dangerous  and 
lengthy  (a  hundred  days  or  so  being  the  time  required  to 
accomplish  same)  would  have  cost  more  than  the  small 
amount  of  the  indemnity  he  was  to  receive  for  his  dearly- 
bought  slaves.  What  could  the  Boer  do?  The  only 
means  left  him  was  to  engage  the  English  dealer,  from 
whom  he  had  purchased  the  slaves  at  exorbitant  prices, 
to  go  and  fetch  the  money  for  him,  or  to  sell  his  chance 
for  what  he  could  get. 

How  many  unscrupulous  agents  and  merchants  took 
advantage  of  the  opportunity  thus  offered,  not  to  recon- 
cile the  Boer  to  the  law  and  authority  of  the  British 
government,  but  to  carry  out  their  own  designs,  in  order 
to  satisfy  their  cupidity,  thus  nurturing  the  hostility  of 
the  Boer  against  the  government,  hoping  thereby,  eventu- 
ally, to  acquire  possession  of  his  lands! 

The   population   increasing,    spread   out   further   and 


JOUBERTS  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN  VICTORIA.    239 

further,  gradually  enlarging  the  colony;  and  it  is,  perhaps, 
known  to  Your  Majesty,  how  the  poor  Boers  on  the 
frontiers  fared,  how  they  were  robbed  of  their  cattle,  and 
how,  owing  to  the  insufficient  protection  afforded  them, 
they  were  often  left  to  their  fate,  or  more  frequently  per- 
secuted and  oppressed,  so  that  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  (although  I  do  not  seek  to  justify  their  conduct)  that, 
disgusted  and  dissatisfied  with  the  treatment  meted  out 
to  them,  they  at  last  rebelled  against  the  government; 
thus  originating  what  took  place  in  1815  and  ended  so 
disastrously.  For,  as  Your  Majesty  is  perhaps  aware, 
matters  had  reached  such  a  pitch  that  a  collision  between 
the  British  troops  and  British  subjects  at  length  resulted 
over  the  quarrel  of  a  Boer  with  a  semi-civiHzed  native, 
which  unfortunate  incident  has  imparted  to  the  place 
where  the  British  took  such  extreme  measures  against 
the  Boers,  an  irreconcilable  artd  ever-to-be-remembered 
name — "  Slachtbank  or  Slachtersnek, "  which  it  bears 
even  unto  this  day. 

Alas!  Your  Majesty,  what  had  the  Boer  not  to  suffer, 
then,  under  the  otherwise  glorious  British  rule?  Enquire 
of  the  border  settlers  of  1820  to  1834,  when  their  eventful 
departure  from  the  colony  took  place.  Is  it,  perhaps, 
known  to  Your  Majesty  how  they  were  driven  back  from 
the  boundaries  by  the  natives  who  pursued  them  far  into 
the  country,  harassing  and  molesting  them?  Yes,  even 
murdering  some,  robbing  them  of  their  cattle,  and  burn- 
ing and  laying  waste  their  homes.  What  protection  did 
they  enjoy  against  the  savages  who  had  murdered  their 
wives  and  children,  who  had  lashed  young  girls  to  the 
trunks  of  trees,  ravished  them,  cut  off  their  breasts,  and, 
after  performing  nameless  other  cruelties,  killed  them? 
They,  the  Boers,  were  called  out  for  Commando  Service 


240   JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN  VICTORIA. 

at  their  own  expense,  under  command  and  control  of  the 
British,  to  fight  the  Kafirs.  And  with  what  result?  The 
Boer  was  impoverished  thereby,  without  the  Kafir  being 
brought  to  a  sense  of  his  duty;  for  while  on  commando, 
his  cattle  were  stolen  from  his  farm  and  driven  away  into 
Kafirland,  whither  he  was  prevented  from  going  in  order 
to  recover  them.  No!  they  had  no  choice  but  to  wait 
until  the  troops  retook  the  cattle,  which  were  afterwards 
publicly  sold  as  loot  in  the  presence  of  the  owners  thereof, 
the  Boers  being  informed  that  they  would  receive  com- 
pensation for  same.  But,  Your  Majesty,  they  received 
no  recompense;  not  in  money  or  goods,  neither  in  rest  nor 
peace,  but,  instead,  abuse  and  indignities  were  heaped  on 
them.  They  were  told  that  they  should  be  satisfied  at 
not  being  punished  as  the  instigators  of  the  disturbance. 

Your  Majesty,  this  was  the  state  of  affairs  in  1834. 
The  dissatisfaction  evinced  at  such  treatment  became 
more  and  more  pronounced.  The  Boers  were  told  by 
His  Excellency,  the  Governor,  that  all  who  were  not  con- 
tent or  would  not  submit  to  British  rule,  were  at  liberty  to 
migrate  beyond  the  borders  of  the  colony,  out  of  British 
territory.  With  feelings  of  deep  anguish  at  the  thought 
of  having  to  leave  their  motherland  and  the  country  of 
their  birth,  and  with  a  weary  sigh,  the  question  escaped 
them:  "Whither?  To  the  dismal  hinterland  of  savage 
South  Africa?"  "Yes!  yes!  Your  Majesty,  rather  the 
dangers  of  the  wilderness,  midst  wild  animals  and  savage 
men,  than  to  remain  longer  under  the  yoke  of  so  iniquitous 
a  government."  And,  then,  "Come  friends,  come 
brothers!  Pack  your  wagons,  collect  your  flocks  and 
herds,  and  let  us  go  away  over  the  border.  God  knows 
whither,  and  He  will  guide  us. " 

The   officials  of  the  British    Empire,    the   ambitious 


JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN  VICTORIA.    241 

merchants  and  others,  flourished  there,  Your  Majesty,  but 
hither  came  the  Boers  in  groups  and  families  in  search  of 
peace  and  rest.     There  being  no  one  to  purchase  their 
well-cultivated  farms,  which  they  could  not  remove,  they 
were  compelled  to  part  with  same  for  a  ridiculous  price  or 
abandon  them  entirely.     Then  into  the    unknown  they 
wandered  ;  there  to  face  the  dangers  and  suffering  insep- 
arable from  such  a  journey.     How  could  they  arm  them- 
selves against  such  dangers?     They  were  not  permitted 
to  carry  arms  or  ammunition  along  with  them,  but  were 
even   followed    by    British    officials  beyond   the   Orange 
River,  to  try  and  find  out  if  there  were  not  perhaps  still 
one  faithful  slave  with   his  master,  and  if  the  Boers  were 
not  perhaps  carrying  a  quantity  of  arms  and  ammunition 
along  with  them.     Thanks  to  the  kindness  of  those  offi- 
cials, the  Boers  were  advised  of  the  object  of  their  com- 
ing, and  were  consequently  enabled  to  conceal  their  guns 
and  ammunition.     Does  Your  Majesty  not  perceive  in  the 
aforementioned,  some  analogy  to  certain  facts  in  Biblical 
history  ?    For  even  as  Pharaoh  drove  the  Israelites  through 
the  Red  Sea,  were  the  Boers  driven  through  the  Great 
River.     Is  it,  then,  to  be  wondered  at,  that  sad  at  heart 
and  with  intense  bitterness,  they  preferred  the  perils  of  the 
desert?     Your  Majesty,  who  can  write  the  history  of  their 
Hves?     Who   can   describe  the   suffering  they  endured? 
They  ventured  forth,  trusting  in  God,  rid  of  all  human 
despotism,  surrounded  by  wild  beasts,  in  search  of  a  free 
land  for  their  children    and   children's  children.     They 
wandered  in  small  groups  further  and  further,  yet  ever 
onward,  until  they  arrived  at  the  Vaal  River.      Here  they 
pitched   their  tents   and    regarded  the  country  as  their 
Eldorado.     Here  were  the  means  of  subsistence — fish  in 
the  water,  game  on  the  veldt  and  a  prospect  of  being  able 


242   JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN  VICTORIA. 

to  sow  crops  and  to  live  in  peace.  They  could  clothe  them- 
selves with  skins  and  subsist  on  flesh,  until  God,  in  His 
bounty,  provided  other  means;  at  least  so  reasoned  the 
poor  Boers.  "  Come  now,  let  us  erect  our  tent  (our  tab- 
ernacle) to  celebrate  the  Sabbath,  for  in  our  God  we  believe 
and  trust.  He  has  given  unto  us  this  glorious  land  and  we 
shall  live  and  praise  Him  here.  It  needs  not  that  we  go 
beyond  the  Jordan,  we  have  no  Babylon  or  Jericho  to 
overthrow.  No  walls  to  be  demolished  for  us,  for  our 
Canaan  is  an  uninhabited  land;  therefore,  ye  Boers,  be  up, 
work  and  live." 

Thus  they  thought,  and  thus  they  spoke  ;  but  how 
short-lived  was  their  delight,  when  at  break  of  day,  one 
morning,  the  dread  cry  of  "Murder!  Murder!"  awakened 
them!  What  could  it  be?  Whence  this  uproar  and  con- 
fusion? Moselekatse,  head  of  a  cruel,  unknown  Kafir 
tribe,  had  come  with  a  large  regiment  of  warriors  from 
the  far  north,  through  a  wild  and  unpopulated  country,  a 
distance  of  over  a  hundred  miles,  and  attacked  a  small, 
detachment  of  Boers  near  the  river,  no  warning  having 
reached  them  of  the  intended  onslaught.  "Up,  now! 
Courage,  men !  Fight  for  your  lives,  for  your  wives  and 
your  children. "  The  odds  at  first  were  three  to  one,  then 
seven,  and  eventually  increased  to  twenty  to  one ;  but  God 
gave  them  courage  and  strength,  and  they  not  only 
repulsed  the  horde  of  savages,  but  succeeded  in  rescuing 
several  children  and  severely  wounded  women  who  were 
captured.  Your  Majesty,  these  were  anxious  days  for 
them.  Women  wounded — in  one,  over  twenty  assegai 
stabs  being  counted — no  doctor  being  on  hand,  without 
medicine,  and  many  widows  and  orphans,  destitute  of  food 
and  clothing,  left  to  their  care.  And  what  had  to  be  done 
next?     Leave  the  Eldorado?    To  flee?    Whither?    Back 


J OU BERT'S  APPEAL    TO  QUEEN  VICTORIA.    243 

again?     No,  no!     Not  to  the  flesh  pots  of  Egypt,  but  to 
God.     He  is  our  refuge! 

Other  parties  of  the  Boers  had  gone  eastward.  With 
these  they  now  decided  to  combine.  But  did  the  un- 
daunted Moselekatse  allow  these  few  Boers  to  escape  him  ? 
To  the  contrary,  he  immediately  sent  a  second  expedi- 
tion, much  stronger  than  the  previous  one,  commanding 
it  not  to  return  so  long  as  there  remained  a  Boer  living; 
that  he  did  not  thereafter  wish  to  hear  of  a  living  Boer. 
Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  this  small  party  of  fleeing  Boers 
(thirty-eight  only  being  capable  of  bearing  arms),  with 
their  wives  and  children,  together  with  cattle  and  thirty- 
four  wagons,  were  followed  by  that  great  commando  of 
savages,  until  they  reached  that  ever  memorable  spot  in 
the  Orange  Free  State  known  as  ' '  Vechtkop, "  where  the 
Boers,  recognizing  the  futility  of  continuing  their  flight, 
drew  up  in  a  laager  or  camp  with  their  wagons,  surround- 
ing same  wjth  branches  of  trees,  and  calmly  awaited  their^ 
pitiless  foe,  who  did  not  long  delay  in  attacking  them, 
with  all  the  fiendish  courage  of  savages.  Prepared  to 
die,  in  the  face  of  overwhelming  odds,  they,  nevertheless, 
determined  to  fight  manfully  to  the  last,  trusting  in  God. 
The  impending  danger  was  awaited  in  earnest  supplica- 
tions before  the  Throne  of  the  Triune  God.  As  the 
enemy  pressed  on,  each  Boer  made  use  of  his  rifle, 
causing  the  smoke  to  ascend  in  such  volumes  to  heaven 
that  even  the  flying  enemy  imagined  the  Boers  had  been 
vanquished,  that  their  laager  was  in  flames  and  that  they 
had  been  entirely  annihilated.  We  were  afterwards  told 
that  when  the  intelligence  reached  Grahamstown,  Cape 
Colony,  Your  Majesty's  subjects  were  so  elated  thereat 
that  they  celebrated  the  receipt  of  the  news  by  bonfires 
and  other  illuminations,  thinking  the  last  of  the  Boers  had 


244   JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN   VICTORIA. 

fallen,  and  that  the  extravagant  expectations  of  the  dis- 
contented rebels  had  now  all  ended  in  smoke.  But  no! 
Your  Majesty,  our  God  in  heaven  had  another  destiny  for 
the  Boer.  For,  notwithstanding  1,333  assegais  were 
hurled  into  the  small  laager,  only  two  men  were  killed  and 
six  wounded,  and  their  little  camp,  unlike  the  cities  of 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  was  not  laid  waste.  There  were 
still  to  be  found  five  just  men  before  God,  whose  prayers 
had  warded  off  disaster,  and  thwarted  the  wishes  of 
Your  Majesty's  Grahamstown  subjects.  Not  only  did  our 
God  cause  the  smoke  and  mist  to  disappear,  but  he 
touched  the  heart  of  a  noble  native,  Marroco,  who,  when 
he  heard  of  the  wretched  plight  that  had  overtaken  the 
Boers,  sent  them,  without  delay,  succor  in  the  shape  of 
milk,  kafircorn  and  pack-oxen,  thereby  enabling  them  to 
rejoin  their  friends,  who  had  passed  over  the  Drakensberg 
into  Natal. 

Before  further  recording  the  history  of  this  party,  I 
would  like  to  relate  to  Your  Majesty  about  two  other  ill- 
fated  parties  of  trekkers — that  of  Jansen  van  Rensburg, 
which  proceeded  northward,  beyond  Zoutpansberg,  never 
to  be  heard  of  again,  for  all  record  of  them  is  as  abso- 
lutely lost  to  the  world  as  that  of  the  ten  tribes  of  Israel. 
It  was  stated  that,  owing  to  the  want  of  ammunition, 
vvhich  was  denied  them  by  the  government  of  the  British 
Cape  Colony,  on  their  departure  into  the  wilds,  they  were 
massacred,  every  one  of  them.  However,  what  actually 
became  of  them  we  do  not  know. 

The  other  party,  under  Louis  Trichardt,  also  ventured 
as  far  as  Zoutpansburg,  thence  proceeding  southeastward 
until  Delagoa  Bay  was  reached,  where  he,  the  leader,  and 
others  succumbed  to  the  there  prevailing  fever,  and  from 
which  place  the  few  survivors,  together  with  their  children. 


GENERAL  FRENCH. 


GENERAL   GATACRE. 


JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN  VICTORIA.    245 

were  conveyed  by  vessel  to  Natal,  where  they  were 
enabled  to  rejoin  their  friends.  The  misery  and  suffer- 
ing experienced  and  endured  by  these  pioneers  is  like- 
wise indescribable,  and  distresses  one  even  to  think  of. 

3ut  now  let  us  return  to  the  history  of  those  who 
passed  over  the  Drakensberg  and  attached  themselves  to 
Piet  Retief,  Gert  Maritz  and  Uys,  and  let  us  see,  Your 
Majesty,  how  they  fared.  Did  they  go  to  attack  a  peace- 
ful people  ?  Did  they  go  as  freebooters  into  a  strange  or 
friendly  country  ?  Did  they  go  purposing  to  wrest  territory 
from  a  lot  of  defenseless  savages,  or  did  they  go  to  revenge 
themselves  on  the  brother  of  Moselekatse  for  the  iniqui- 
tous attack  on  them  at  the  instigation  of  the  latter?  Did 
they  seek  to  avenge  the  blood  of  Van  Rensburg  and 
others,  who  were  murdered  by  the  same  race  of  savages 
as  that  to  which  Dingaan  belonged?  No!  Your  Majesty, 
nothing  of  the  kind.  First  they  held  communion  with 
the  Almighty  God,  and  then  approached  the  savage  ruler 
of  the  land.  King  Dingaan,  who  had  already  promised 
them  a  tract  of  country,  and  requested  him  to  grant  them 
a  written  agreement  to  that  effect.  It  is  doubtless  known 
to  Your  Majesty  how  this  cruel  and  barbarous  chief,  after 
having  given  them  the  land,  and  after  duly  signing  the 
agreement  thereto,  mercilessly  and  treacherously  mur- 
dered Piet  Retief  and  his  seventy  men,  immediately 
afterwards  sending  out  his  commandos  to  massacre  those 
awaiting  the  return  of  Piet  Retief;  and  the  unsuspecting 
women  and  children.  Thus  without  warning  were  600 
helpless  old  men,  women  and  children  butchered  in  cold 
blood.  What  a  panic,  what  dismay,  this  caused  among 
the  Boers,  scattered  about  the  country!  Those  remain- 
ing were  robbed  of  all  their  cattle;  and  what  could  they 
do?      Should  they  await  other  such  onslaughts  and  perish 


246   JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN   VICTORIA. 

eventually  at  the  hands  of  a  savage  people,  or  die  of 
hunger  in  the  wilderness?  Alas,  how  dismal  their  out- 
look seemed!  Whither  could  they  go?  Whence  could 
they  expect  help?  From  Great  Britain?  Yes,  and  help 
came  too!  A  vessel  arrived  at  Port  Natal,  and  Captain 
Jarvis  stepped  on  shore.  "  Thank  God,  assistance  was 
at  hand,  now  no  more  starvation;  no  more  fear  of  the 
sword  of  Dingaan.  Succor  has  come  at  last!"  Such  were 
the  thoughts  of  many  a  simple-minded  Boer.  But,  alas! 
how  soon  was  their  joy  to  be  turned  into  grief  and  indig- 
nation, for  how  horribly  surprised  were  they  to  learn  that, 
instead  of  having  come  to  their  aid,  he  was  sent  to  forbid 
them  to  fight  with  the  natives  and  to  disarm  them !  What 
was  to  be  done?  Should  they  offer  Captain  Jarvis  resist- 
ance? Yes!  Rather  would  they  fight  to  the  death  than 
hand  over  their  firearms.  But  what,  then,  if  the  Kafirs 
should  come  to  his  aid?  The  Boers  found  their  pros- 
pects more  cheerless  now  than  ever.  They  acted,  there- 
fore, with  great  cunning,  yet  with  submissiveness.  Rather 
than  show  antagonism  they  hid  their  guns  and  ammuni- 
tion and  submitted  to  the  inspection  and  search  of  Cap- 
tain Jarvis,  anxiously  praying  to  God  to  give  them 
refuge.  Captain  Jarvis,  having  ascertained  that  there  was 
no  booty  to  be  got  from  the  poor  Boers,  and  as  Natal 
offered  but  few  attractions  then,  was  glad  to  take  his 
departure. 

Poor,  deserted  Boer,  what  was  now  your  outlook?  In 
a  savage  land,  in  the  vicinity  of  a  powerful  and  barbarous 
tribe,  ruled  over  by  the  tyrant  Dingaan.  What  was  there 
to  do  but  to  avenge  the  murders  committed  and  restore 
peace  with  the  sword?  Therefore,  it  behooved  Pieter 
Uys,  Hdk.  Potgieter  and  every  one,  to  punish  Dingaan  and 
his  tril^e  and  to  re-establish  peace,  otherwise  the  Boers 


JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN   VICTORIA.    247 

would  not  have  been  able  to  live  in  the  country.  There- 
fore, "  two  hundred  men  of  you  up  and  get  at  the  mighty 
Dingaan ! "  This,  however,  was  not  owing  to  a  lust  for 
fighting,  Your  Majesty,  but  because  the  Boer  adjudged  it 
absolutely  necessary,  and  no  one  in  the  world  could  have 
done  otherwise. 

A  return  to  the  Colony  was  not  to  be  thought  of.  The 
only  conclusion  they  could  arrive  at  was  to  endeavor  to 
compel  Dingaan,  at  the  edge  of  the  sword,  to  promote 
peace.  How  unfortunate,  though,  was  the  outcome  of 
this  desperate  effort  of  only  two  hundred  men  to  advance 
against  the  might  of  Dingaan,  in  the  midst  of  his  people 
and  in  his  own  dangerous  land,  without  the  support  of 
cannon  or  other  instrument  of  war,  but  simply  mounted  on 
their  horses  armed  with  flintlock  guns!  And  yet  they  had 
no  choice  but  to  do  it.  The  issue  was  only  as  could  have 
been  expected.  Dingaan's  regiments  were  too  powerful 
for  the  little  handful  of  Boers,  who  were  forced  to  take 
refuge  in  flight,  not,  however,  until  after  hundreds  of  the 
foe  had  bitten  the  dust.  Their  small  stock  of  ammuni- 
tion had  run  out;  their  brave  commander,  Piet  Uys,  his 
never-to-be-forgotten  little  son  and  eight  others  lost  their 
lives  in  this  conflict.  But  in  vain !  Dingaan  was  conqueror 
and  his  courage  revived  immediately.  He  then  sent  a 
larger  and  more  powerful  commando  than  before,  with 
instructions  to  completely  destroy  the  Boers.  This  time, 
however,  the  Boers  were  on  their  guard.  They  had  con- 
structed a  laager  on  the  banks  of  the  Bushman's  River, 
where  the  flourishing  village  of  Estcourt  now  lies,  close  to 
the  village  Weenen  (to  wail),  so  called  in  memory  of  the 
many  wailing  women  and  children  massacred  there. 

It  was  here  that  Dingaan  was  to  learn  that,  although 
but  a  mere  handful  of  whites,  the  Boers,  with  righteous- 


248  JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO  QUEEN  VICTORIA. 

ness  as  their  cause,  were  not  to  be  overthrown  by  his 
iniquitous  hosts.  No!  they  did  not  rely  in  the  strength 
of  their  horses  or  the  heroism  of  their  men,  but  in  the 
omnipotence  of  their  God,  who  gave  them  the  victory. 
For  although  the  Boers  were  surrounded  by  overwhelming 
odds  and  repeatedly  stormed  by  thousands  and  thousands 
of  the  enemy,  they  lost  but  one  killed.  The  Zulus, 
however,  after  three  days'  fighting,  were  forced  to  retire, 
leaving  so  many  of  their  dead  on  the  field  that  for  years 
after  the  veldt  was  white  with  their  bones,  testifying  to  the 
frightful  carnage  that  took  place  there.  God  had  pro- 
tected the  Boers  and  delivered  the  dearly-bought  land  of 
Natal  into  their  hands.  They  had,  however,  been  robbed 
of  all  their  cattle  and  knew  not  what  to  do.  Their  God 
and  His  word  still  remained  to  them,  and  so  they  were 
comforted — for  he  who  has  faith  in  God  has  not  built  upon 
the  sand — and  in  the  sight  of  heaven  their  cause  was  just. 
Therefore  he  sent  them  help  from  above.  Andries  Pre- 
torius  had,  in  company  with  other  Boers,  recently  arrived 
from  the  Cape,  and  he,  having  called  together  all  the 
Boers  to  be  found  in  Natal,  and  even  as  many  of  those  to 
be  found  in  the  territory  known  as  the  Orange  Free  State, 
formed  a  commando  about  four  hundred  strong,  with  which 
he  hazarded  to  iilvade  Dingaan's  country,  and  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  his  men  were  armed  only  with  flint- 
lock guns,  they  succeeded,  on  December  i6,  1838,  in  not 
only  defeating  him  (Dingaan)  in  this  battle,  but  in  over- 
throwing his  kingdom  and  destroying  his  chief  kraal, 
driving  him  so  far  inland  that  he  was  nevermore  able  to 
return.  In  token  of  their  gratitude  for  the  victory  gained, 
the  Boers  made  a  vow  to  ever  afterwards  keep  the  date 
thereof  as  a  day  of  thanksgiving,  and  so  the  16th  of  De- 
cember is  always  commemorated  at  Paardekraal. 


JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN  VICTORIA.    249 

One  would  have  thought,  Your  Majesty,  that  the  Boer 
after  this  would  have  been  left  alone  to  live  peaceably, 
praising  his  God,  in  the  country  he  had  bought  so  dear. 
But  no!  the  yoke  of  oppression  had  not  yet  been  broken. 
Their  cup  of  bitterness  was  not  yet  emptied.  Scarcely 
had  the  Boers  laid  out  the  village,  Pietermaritzburg,  dug 
a  water-furrow,  erected  a  church,  started  a  small  school 
for  their  children  and  built  a  courthouse  and  prison,  when 
lo!  threatening  clouds  began  to  gather  and  the  alarm  to 
sound  again.  What  can  it  be — the  Kafirs?  No!  a  thou- 
sand, thousand  times  worse.  The  English  have  come; 
an  officer  with  a  company  of  soldiers,  equipped  with  can- 
non and  shell,  is  here!  "It  is  Captain  Jarvis,  that  good 
— that  brave  old  soldier.  We  will  soon  be  able  to  adjust 
matters  with  him;  he  will  presently  be  gone  again."  No! 
my  poor  fellow-Boers,  you  are  deluded.  The  officer  is 
Captain  Smith;  he  has  come  to  annex  the  country  as  a 
possession  of  that  mighty  empire.  Great  Britain — to  make 
an  end  to  our  boasted  independence  and  to  destroy  our 
peace. 

Your  Majesty,  it  is  with  a  shudder  that  I  recall  this 
deplorable  incident.  It  cannot  be  wondered  at  that  the 
Boers,  who  had  endured  and  suffered  so  much  to  obtain 
this  land  and  to  form  an  independent  people,  should  have 
declined  to  voluntarily  submit  to  such  an  injustice,  and 
have  resisted  any  attempts  to  achieve  the  same.  When 
they  discovered  that  argument  and  fair  words  were  of  no 
avail,  and  that  Major  Smith  was  steadfast  in  his  purpose 
to  take  possession  of  the  country  and  crush  the  Boers, 
and,  as  a  step  in  that  direction,  had  already  declared  the 
bay  annexed,  they  were  driven  to  the  verge  of  despair 
and  so  resorted  to  arms.  Having  hastily  collected 
together  to  the  number  of  about  two  hundred,  for  they 


250  JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN  VICTORIA. 

were  but  few  and  much  scattered,  they  advanced  toward 
the  Congella.  Major  Smith,  vainly  imagining  that  this 
mere  handful  of  Boers  would  be  disconcerted  and  put  to 
flight  at  the  first  firing  of  his  cannon,  advanced  along  the 
shore  under  cover  of  darkness,  until  he  had  almost  reached 
the  sleeping  laager,  when  he  opened  fire  on  the  picket 
guard,  comprising  about  twenty-eight  men,  with  the  fatal 
result  that  one  Boer  was  killed,  Jan  Greyling.  The 
remainder  of  the  Boers  repelled  the  attack,  and  obliged 
the  Major  to  retreat,  leaving  his  cannon  behind.  J  may 
here  mention  that  more  of  the  troops  got  drowned  in  the 
sea  than  succumbed  to  the  bullets  of  the  Boers.  Now 
they  had  to  face  the  fact  that,  although  thankful  to  God 
for  his  many  mercies,  and  in  deep  sorrow  at  the  loss  of 
one  of  the  bravest  of  their  young  men  and  for  the  many 
soldiers  drowned,  they  had  opposed  the  might  of  Britain. 
It  was  awful  to  contemplate;  so  young  a  nation  as  they, 
which  had  suffered  so  many  hardships  at  the  hands  of  the 
savages  during  the  great  trek,  and  that  had  just  been 
visited  by  an  epidemic  of  measles,  which,  owing  to  the 
lack  of  medical  assistance  and  proper  nourishment,  had 
carried  off  many  of  them.  Should  they  fight  or  surrender, 
was  the  question  asked?  Certainly;  fight  for  their  just 
rights.  But,  see,  two  ships  were  coming;  it  is  madness 
for  this  little  handful  of  Boers  to  offer  further  resistance. 
They  were  not  trained  nor  armed  with  cannon;  and  thus 
could  not  prevent  the  landing  of  a  force  stronger  than 
they  were  themselves.  They  dared  not  longer  to  fight 
the  English,  for  the  Kafirs  had  already  commenced  to 
harass  them  from  the  rear.  A  Boer  had  been  killed  on 
his  farm,  and  another,  named  Van  Rooyen,  murdered, 
his  wife  and  daughter  being  subjected  to  the  most 
inhuman   treatment,  ravished   and   driven  away  naked. 


JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN  VICTORIA.    251 

Others  were  assaulted  and  barely  escaped  with  their 
lives.  In  this  way  the  Kafirs  proved  of  great  service  to 
Major  Smith  and  his  soldiers,  who  were  besieged  by  the 
Boers  and  had  already  been  driven  to  the  extremity  of 
eating  crows  and  horseflesh,  and  who  would  undoubtedly 
have  been  obliged  to  capitulate  had  it  not  been  for  the 
harassing  attacks  of  the  Kafirs  in  the  rear  of  the  Boers, 
which  necessitated  them  hastening  out  to  their  farms,  in 
order  to  save  their  families  from  certain  death.  And 
thus  it  came  to  pass  that  the  Boers  lost  their  sacred  right 
to  the  territory  of  Natal,  which  had  been  purchased  with 
the  blood  of  their  slain.  What  was  to  be  done  next? 
There  was  no  other  remedy  for  it  but  to  trek  again,  and 
to  trek  inland,  whither  the  English  would  not  follow  them, 
for  if  they  remained  they  would  once  more  have  had  to 
submit  to  the  British  yoke.  They  would,  nevertheless, 
first  give  the  latter  a  trial.  "We  will  submit,"  they  said, 
"perhaps  England  will  deal  with  us  more  kind  here  than 
she  did  in  the  Cape  Colony,  our  motherland.  Come,  let 
us  wait  and  see!"  What  happened  after  this,  Your 
Majesty?  The  first  thing  Your  Majesty's  servants  did 
was  to  banish  certain  of  the  Boers,  who  had  to  flee  for 
their  lives.  This  was  not  all,  however,  for  when  the 
Kafirs  stole  their  cattle  and  brought  them  to  Major 
Smith,  the  Boers  were  told  they  could  not  get  same  back, 
as  he  had  run  short  of  provisions  and  would  require  them 
as  food.  Thus  were  the  prospects  of  the  Boer  growing 
darker  and  darker.  Colonel  Cloete  had  arrived.  What 
had  he  to  tell  them  ?  Firstly,  that  they  were  to  consider 
themselves  the  conquered  subjects  of  Her  Majesty.  And, 
as  such,  what  would  they  enjoy?  Each  one  who  had 
occupied  a  piece  of  ground  could  make  application  for 
same,  which,  after  certain  investigations,  would  be  granted 


252   JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN  VICTORIA. 

him.  The  country  had  been  won  and  acquired  by  the 
Boers;  consequently  the  Boer  Volksraad  had  granted  to 
each  Boer  capable  of  bearing  arms  two  farms  and  one  erf 
at  Pietermaritzburg.  These  farms  were  inspected, 
registered,  and  declared  as  marketable  property  some 
time  before  the  appearance  of  the  English.  When,  how- 
ever, several  of  the  Boers,  dissatisfied  with  the  principle 
of  British  rule,  began  to  leave  the  country,  and  tried  to 
barter  their  farms  and  erven  for  wagons,  trek-cattle, 
clothing  and  other  requisites  for  their  fresh  trek  inland, 
they,  as  well  as  the  few  Boers  who  intended  to  remain 
under  British  rule  in  Natal  and  had  bought  or  given 
something  in  exchange  for  the  erven  and  farms,  were  pro- 
foundly astonished,  not  to  say  disappointed,  when  they 
approached  Colonel  Cloete  for  transfer  of  the  property 
they  had  secured,  to  hear  that  as  the  erven  and  farms 
had  not  been  bona  fide  occupied,  they  had,  therefore, 
reverted  to  the  government,  and  were  now  declared  as 
crown  lands.  "The  wagon  and  oxen  or  money  and 
goods  you  gave  for  same  can  only  be  regarded  as  a  dead 
loss  to  yourself, "  was  the  reply  they  got. 

This  was  how  the  British  Government  in  Natal  intro- 
duced itself  to  the  defeated  Boers.  Many  and  bitter 
were  the  tears  shed  by  the  thus  oppressed  and  impover- 
ished people. 

Is  Your  Majesty,  perhaps,  acquainted  with  the  fact 
that  the  Boers  sent  a  delegate  to  lay  their  grievances  be- 
fore Your  Majesty,  who,  after  many  weeks  traveling  on 
horseback,  reached  Governor  Pottinger  and  entreated  him 
to  listen  to  their  complaints?  But,  Your  Majesty,  this 
emissary  was  not  given  an  audience.  Thus  it  was  obvi- 
ous to  all  that  the  doors  had  been  closed  to  them,  to  be 
heard,  and  that  they  would  have  to  patiently  tolerate  all 


THE   ROBINSON   BANK,  MARKET   SQUARE   AND   SIMMONDS 
STREET,  JOHANNESBURG. 


JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN  VICTORIA.    255 

that  befell  them,  without  the  slightest  prospect  of  ever 
obtaining  justice  or  relief.  Is  it  a  matter  of  wonder, 
Your  Majesty,  that  under  these  circumstances  every  Boer 
took  advantage  of  the  first  opportunity  that  was  offered 
to  leave  the  Colony  of  Natal  and  trek  beyond  the  Drak- 
ensberg  to  a  haven  of  rest,  where  there  was  no  British 
authority  and  where  they  could  live  and  die  in  peace? 

It  was  upon  these  trek-Boers  that  various  deceptions 
were  practiced  in  Your  Majesty's  name.  They  were 
called  together  by  the  late  General  Pretorius  to  meet  the 
Governor,  Sir  Harry  Smith,  who,  it  was  stated,  wished 
personally  to  see  the  Boers  and  to  learn  what  the  majority 
desired.  It  was  announced  that  if  the  majority  would 
remain  under  Her  Majesty's  rule  he,  the  Governor,  would 
give  them  land  and  would  treat  the  minority  with  every 
degree  of  kindness  and  patience,  always  endeavoring  to 
persuade  them  to  be  reconciled  to  British  authority;  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  should  it  appear  that  the  majority 
were  for  freedom  and  antagonistic  towards  the  authority 
of  the  British,  they  could  go  to  perdition;  Her  Majesty's 
government  would  not  trouble  itself  further  about  them. 
On  this  pretext  as  many  of  the  Boers  as  could  were  pre- 
vailed upon  to  proceed  to  Winburg,  a  newly-laid-out 
village,  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  Sir  Harry  Smith. 
But  how  ineffably  deceived  were  they,  for,  instead  of 
finding  Sir  Harry  Smith  and  obtaining  a  peaceful  settle- 
ment of  all  their  grievances,  an  ultimatum  was  presented 
to  them  reading  as  follows:  "Your  headman  or  leader  is 
a  rebel.  I  have  put  a  price  of  a  thousand  pounds  on  his 
head,  and  woe  unto  any  of  you  who  connive  at  his  escape. 
I  will  treat  such  as  rebels. "  Who  can  describe  the  feel- 
ings of  disappointment  and  resentment  that  arose  in  the 
breasts  of  the  Boers  at  these  words,  and  to  which  can 
15 


256   JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN  VICTORIA. 

only  be  attributed  what  subsequently  took  place  at  Boom- 
pleats  on  the  29th  August,  1849?  It  is  true  that  the  forces 
of  Sir  Harry,  reinforced  by  bastards  and  Griquas,  suffered 
a  heavy  reverse.  The  Boers,  however,  being  armed 
only  with  flintlock  guns,  could  not  for  long  withstand  a 
larger  and  better  armed  force,  supported  by  cannon,  and 
were  eventually  obliged  to  retreat,  leaving  six  of  their 
number  dead  on  the  field  and  several  others  prisoners  in 
the  hands  of  the  English,  none  of  whom  we  have  ever 
seen  again  or  heard  of. 

Thus  ended  this  act  in  the  drama  of  South  Africa, 
creating  new  miseries  for  the  Boers,  who  could  not  irn- 
mediately  trek  or  escape  in  flight  beyond  the  Vaal  River, 
where  the  Portuguese  had  conceded  them  a  tract  of  coun- 
try, decimated  of  its  native  population  by  the  raiding  of 
Moselekatse,  previous  to  his  attack  upon  the  Boers  in 
1836,  and  for  which  he  had  been  severely  punished 
already  by  Piet  Uys  and  Hendrik  Potgieter.  The  coun- 
try had,  so  to  say,  been  cleared  by  the  Boers,  and  they 
now  availed  themselves  of  the  permission  given  them  by 
the  Portuguese  to  settle  down  north  of  the  Vaal  River, 
where  they  immediately  founded  a  village  which  they 
named  Potchefstroom.  Having  built  a  church  and  gaol, 
they  proceeded  with  the  election  of  a  Parliament  and  the 
enactment  of  laws,  etc. 

It  had  by  this  time  begun  to  dawn  upon  Her  Majesty's 
government  that  it  was  more  politic  to  leave  the  Boer 
severely  alone  than  to  be  everlastingly  pursuing  him  from 
place  to  place  like  a  small  bird,  hopping  from  branch  to 
branch  and  tree  to  tree.  With  the  object  of  assuring  the 
Boers  that  they  would  not  be  interfered  with  north  of  the 
Vaal  River,  and  could  administer  their  own  affairs,  Her 
Majesty's    special  commissioner,    Mr,  C.   M.   Owen,   was 


JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN  VICTORIA.    257 

sent,  with  the  result  that  a  convention  was  entered  into 
on  the  1 6th  January,  1852,  signed  by  Your  Majesty's 
commissioners,  Major  W.  S.  Hogg  and  Mr.  C.  M.  Owen, 
the  first  three  articles  of  which  read  somewhat  as  follows: 

Art.  I.  Her  Majesty's  Commissioners,  on  behalf  of 
the  British  Government,  do  absolutely  guarantee  to  the 
emigrant  Boers  north  of  the  Vaal  River  the  right  of  ad- 
ministering their  own  affairs  and  of  governing  in  accord- 
ance with"  their  own  laws,  without  interference  whatsoever 
on  the  part  of  the  British  Government,  and  that  no  exten- 
sion shall  be  made  by  the  said  government  north  of  the 
Vaal,  with  the  additional  assurance  that  it  is  the  fervent 
desire  of  the  British  Government  to  maintain  peace  and 
free  trade,  and  to  promote  a  friendly  understand- 
ing with  the  emigrant  Boers  occupying  or  still  to  occupy 
the  said  territory,  and  it  is  further  understood  that  these 
terms  are  to  be  mutually  adhered  to. 

Art.  2.  Should  there  arise  any  misunderstanding  re- 
garding the  meaning  of  the  word  Vaalrivier,  more  partic- 
ularly with  respect  to  the  tributaries  of  the  Vaal,  the 
question  shall  be  decided  by  a  mutually  appointed  com- 
mission. 

Art.  3.  That  Her  Majesty's  commissioners  disavow  all 
compacts  of  whatever  nature  with  the  colored  nations  north 
t.)l  the  Vaal. 

Have  any  of  these  articles  been  carried  out  by  Your 
Majesty's  government? 

See  also  the  protocol,  which  defines  the  boundary 
along  the  Vaal  River  and  the  Orange  Free  State  right 
unto  the  sea.  The  British  evidently  concluded  that  the 
Orange  PVee  State  was  not  worthy  of  being  retained  by 
so  wealthy  and  good  a  government  as  that  of  Eng- 
land.    Therefore,    Her    Majesty's    government   sent   Sir 


258  JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN  VICTORIA. 

Russel  Clark,  on  the  4th  of  February,  1854,  to  abolish 
the  suzerainty  and  give  the  Boers  absolute  independence 
and  free  government. 

This  just  action  on  the  part  of  the  British  government. 
Your  Majesty,  was  lauded  and  magnified  by  the  Boer, 
whose  confidence  in  the  equity  of  the  British  had  revived. 
No  one  dare  say  aught  detrimental  to  the  English.  No! 
an  Englishman  was  as  good  as  any  other  man.  This 
feeling  toward  the  English  can  be  testified  to  by  the  many 
soldiers  who  deserted  hither;  by  every  trader,  and  by  the 
first  gold-diggers  in  the  country.  Have  not  English  per- 
sons served  as  members  of  our  Executive  Council  and  as 
Landdrosts?  Have  not  Englishmen  sat  as  members  of 
our  Volksraad?  Yes!  even  several  who  did  not  under- 
stand Dutch.  Did  not  perfect  harmony,  co-operation, 
confidence  and  friendship  prevail  then  between  the  Eng- 
lishman and  the  Boer  all  over  South  Africa?  Would 
not,  in  this  way,  all  the  people  of  South  Africa,  irrespec- 
tive of  nationality,  soon  have  been  blended  into  one  com-r 
mon  people  or  nation  ? 

Whence  came  this  antagonism,  this  disruption,  then? 
Your  Majesty,  it  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  diamonds,  to  the 
Basutoland  question — ask  but  Theophilus  Shepstone — 
what  took  place  on  the  12th  of  April,  1878.  Yes!  Lord 
Carnarvon  knows,  as  also  does  Sir  Michael  Hicks-Beach. 
Did  the  Boers  not  have  to  submit  to  the  diamond  fields 
south  of  the  Vaal  being  taken  from  them?  Was  not  the 
glory  of  having  vanquished  the  Basutos,  after  a  long  and 
bloody  struggle,  and  after  having  endured  so  much, 
snatched  from  the  Orange  Free  State?  Was  not  the 
trust  assured  them  by  the  convention  abused  when 
they  were  dispossessed  of  a  stretch  of  country  where  the 
diamond  mines  were  situated,  and  for  which  they  were 


JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN   VICTORIA.    259 

subsequently  obliged  to  accept  a  sum  of  ninety  thousand 
pounds  sterling — a  ridiculously  inadequate  sum,  consider- 
ing that  in  one  week  the  value  of  the  diamonds  procured 
exceeded  this  amount?  Was  not  the  Transvaal  annexed 
after  all  the  native  tribes  had  been  subdued  by  the  Boers? 
Did  not  the  Boers  for  three  whole  years  implore  Lord 
Carnarvon,  and  also  later  Sir  Michael  Hicks-Beach,  as  it 
were,  on  their  knees,  for  a  restitution  of  their  rights,  send- 
ing two  deputations  to  England  for  that  purpose,  yet 
without  obtaining  the  least  hope  of  ever  having  their  legit- 
imate rights  restored  to  them?  It  was,  therefore,  in 
desperation  that  the  Boers  resolved,  on  the  13th  of 
December,  1880,  at  Paardekraal,  to  recall  the  government 
to  resume  their  official  duties,  which  had  been  interrupted 
owing  to  the  annexation,  and  to  govern  the  people  in 
accordance  with  the  laws  of  the  land. 

Your  Majesty  is  probably  aware  that  when  the  country 
was  annexed,  on  the  12th  of  April,  1877,  against  which 
act  President  Thomas  Burgers,  however,  resolutely  pro^ 
tested,  a  proclamation  was  printed  at  Pretoria  in  the  name 
of  the  British,  without  let  or  hindrance  from  the  side  of 
the  Boer.  No!  the  Boers,  notwithstanding  their  indigna- 
tion at  this  great  wrong,  submitted  to  the  law  and  pre- 
served order,  intending  to  petition  Your  Majesty  against 
this  manifestly  unjust  breach  of  the  convention,  committed 
in  the  name  of  Your  Majesty.  They,  therefore,  without 
murmur,  permitted  the  publication  of  the  document. 
When,  however,  they  wanted  to  have  a  proclamation 
printed,  declaring  to  the  world  their  rights.  Major  Clark 
ordered  his  men  to  open  fire  on  them — and  this  without 
previous  warning  or  the  proclamation  of  war — wounding 
two  and  killing  one  of  their  horses.  Thus,  on"  December 
1 6th,    1880,    war  was   declared  by  England   against  the 


26o   JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN   VICTORIA. 

Boers,  regardless  of  the  convention  of  1852,  wherein 
their  independence,  etc.,  etc.,  was  guaranteed  to  them. 

This  was  how  the  war,  which  lasted  almost  three 
months,   originated. 

The  wretched  Boers  had  no  experienced  soldiers,  nor 
did  they  possess  cannon,  ammunition,  modern  weapons  or 
a  full  treasury;  indeed,  they  were  almost  destitute  of  food 
and  clothing.  They  were  armed  only  with  antique  flint- 
lock guns,  and  had  at  the  most  a  hundred  rounds  of  am- 
munition. Their  officers  had  but  recently  been  chosen; 
the  majority  of  them  had  never  been  under  fire  before, 
and,  in  fact,  knew  not  what  war  meant.  Such  were  the 
men  who  were  now  obliged  to  take  up  arms  and  to 
give  battle.  Against  whom  ?  Against  Your  Majesty  ? 
Against  Great  Britain?  No!  Your  Majesty,  happily  not, 
but  against  those  persons  who,  through  misrepresenta- 
tion, had  beguiled  the  British  Empire  into  the  committal 
of  a  shameful  deed,  thereby  seeking  to  cast  a  lasting 
reproach  on  Your  Majesty's  honored  name,  and  that  of 
the  noble  British  race,  at  the  same  time  straining  to  crush 
a  people  to  whom  Your  Majesty  had,  by  the  terms  of 
the  Zand  River  Convention,  etc.,  guaranteed  their  inde- 
pendence. 

In  this  way  the  unfortunate  struggle  between  the  Boers 
and  English  came  about.  The  Boers,  perceiving  that 
they  could  not  move  their  pitiless  oppressors  by  their  pro- 
tests and  petitions,  resolved  to  purchase  liberty  with  their 
blood.  Although  many  more  brave  English  soldiers  fell 
than  Boers,  the  loss  of  the  Boers,  however,  was  greater 
and  more  acutely  felt,  considering  the  status  of  the  British 
soldier  and  how  considerably  it  diff"ers  from  that  of  the 
Boer.  The  Boer  was  fighting  for  his  property,  his  home 
and   for   his  country.      He   is   invariably  the  father  of  a 


JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN   VICTORIA.    261 

family,  and  if  he  gets  killed  he  leaves  behind  him  a 
widow  and  children;  or,  perhaps,  the  only  son  of  a  widow 
or  of  aged  and  decrepit  parents,  whose  support  he  was,  is 
killed.  A  soldier  knows  none  of  these  tender  anxieties.  He 
is  instructed  in  the  science  of  war,  and  thinks  of  nothing 
else;  his  great  ambition  is  to  carry  out  the  orders  of  his 
commander  and  to  gain  a  medal  for  bravery  in  the  fight. 
They  do  not  concern  themselves  with  the  question  as  to 
whether  they  are  fighting  in  a  good  or  bad,  a  just  or  unjust, 
cause.  No !  it  matters  little  to  them.  Those  in  high  positions 
(who  sit  in  safety)  should  know,  for  they  have  calculated 
how  much  glory  and  honor  they  can  gain  or  purchase  with 
the  life  and  blood  of  the  soldier,  but  they  do  not  consider 
the  amount  of  suffering  and  pain  they  inflict  and  what 
their  responsibility  will  be  when  they  come  before  the 
judgment  seat  of  the  Great  Judge  of  Heaven  and  Earth, 
before  whom  every  one  will  one  day  have  to  stand,  face 
to  face  with  those  who  stood  under  their  authority  and 
were  used  to  the  destruction  and  downfall  of  others. 

In  this  war,  however,  such  was  not  the  outcome,  for, 
although  the  struggle  was  fierce  and  arduous  and  the 
Boers  lost  heavily,  their  God  gave  them  the  ultimate  vic- 
tory. There  arose  a  man — Mr.  Gladstone — at  the  head 
of  affairs  in  Great  Britain,  an  upright.  God-fearing  man, 
who  could  discern  the  directing  finger  of  the  Almighty, 
and  was  not  too  high-minded  to  acknowledge  the  same 
and  boldly  declare  that  righteousness  exalteth  a  nation 
— his  nation.  Your  Majesty's  nation — while  injustice  and 
wrong-doing  sullies  the  fame  of  a  nation.  Actuated 
thereto  by  a  generous  and  noble  impulse,  he  caused  the 
unjust  war  to  cease,  and  restored  the  honor  of  Great 
Britain  by  transforming  an  act  of  violence  into  a  magnan- 
imous deed.     Peace  was  thereupon  concluded  at  Laings 


262   JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN  VICTORIA. 

Nek,  and  the  Boers  might  have  again  exulted  at  being 
in  amity  with  Great  Britain,  although  burdened  now  with 
a  heavy  debt — a  liability  which  they  respectfully  protest 
they  never  incurred — an  empty  treasury,  broken  firearms, 
ammunition  all  spent,  and  a  convention  that  cannot  be 
conformed  with,  which  can  be  declared  as  infringed  every 
day,  with  no  impartial  tribunal  to  determine  one  way  or 
the  other.  The  Boers  were,  however,  free  again,  and 
they  hoped  it  would  now  go  better  with  them.  They 
vainly  imagined  so,  and  frequently  declared  so.  But, 
alas!  Poor  Transvaal!  You  have  hardly  survived  one 
disaster  when  two  others  stand  staring  you  in  the  face. 

Unfortunately  a  rich  gold  mine  has  been  discovered 
in  your  country.  It  is  surely  not  meant  for  the  poor 
down-trodden  Boer.  Poor  and  abandoned  men  soon 
began  to  flock  to  this  new  Eldorado,  and  were  presently 
followed  by  a  legion  of  unscrupulous  speculators.  After- 
wards certain  ambitious  capitalists  arrived  on  the  scene, 
who  knew  how  to  use  their  influence,  and  were  indifferent 
as  to  what  role  they  played,  or  what  became  of  the 
country  as  long  as  they  increased  their  wealth  tenfold. 
And  to  what  end  did  they  eventually  apply  their  gold, 
derived  from  the  Transvaal  mines?  Let  history  tell, 
Your  Majesty,  and  it  will  prove  that  it  was  not  devoted 
to  the  good  of  the  country  or  the  welfare  of  their  fellow- 
men;  but,  to  the  contrary,  to  the  detriment  of  the  country 
whose  hospitality  they  were  enjoying. 

Their  object  was  to  overthrow  the  government  and  to 
rob  the  people  of  their  liberty,  by  force  if  necessary.  As 
they  had  money  in  abundance,  the  proceeds  of  the  gold 
they  had  won  from  the  mines,  they  bought  thousands  of 
rifles  and  maxim  cannons — smuggled  these,  concealed  in 
oil-casks,  into  the  country  for  the  purpose  of  using  them 


JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN   VICTORIA.    263 

against  the  people  of  the  Transvaal  to  oust  them  out  of 
their  country,  whither  the  capitalist  had  come  and  pos- 
sessed himself  of  the  gold  fields.  With  this  aim  in  view 
they  had  m^de  a  compact  with  one  Cecil  Rhodes  to 
undertake  a  raid  into  the  Transvaal,  Dr.  Jameson  acting 
as  the  tool. 

Behold!  Your  Majesty,  the  conduct  of  these  men — 
the  same  men  who  are  to-day  clamoring  about  grievances. 
Yes !  grievances  which  have  made  them  rich,  richer  than 
ever  any  of  the  Voortrekkers  was  or  any  of  their  children 
will  be. 

They,  then,  who  tried  to  overthrow  the  South  African 
Republic,  who  stirred  up  strife  in  Johannesburg,  on 
account  of  which  many  anxious  and  timid  people  fled 
from  the  city  to  escape  probable  hardships,  are  respon- 
sible for  that  dreadful  railway  accident  in  Natal,  through 
which  so  many  mothers  and  children  lost  their  lives. 
They  shall  also  have  to  answer  before  the  judgment  seat 
of  God,  for  the  blood  that  was  spilt  during  this  contempt- 
ible Jameson  raid.  Here,  again,  Your  Majesty,  six 
Boers  fell  defending  their  rights  and  the  independence  of 
their  country. 

Thus  have  the  Boers,  from  time  to  time,  been  aggra- 
vated and  harassed. 

But  even  in  these  troubles  they  were  not  deserted  by 
their  God,  who  gave  them  refuge  and  enabled  them  to 
prove  to  the  world  that  they  are  a  meek  and  enlightened 
people;  for,  although  they  had  it  in  their  power  to  refuse 
to  grant  quarter  or  pardon  to  Jameson  or  his  gang  of  free- 
booters, they  did  not  shoot  them  down  as,  perhaps,  an- 
other military  force  would  have  done,  or  even  follow  the 
example  set  them  at  Schlachtersnek.  The  thought  alone 
that  they  were  British  subjects  sufficed  the  Boers  not  to 


264   J  OU BERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUE  EX   VICTORIA. 

treat  them  according  to  their  deserts,  but  to  hand  them 
over  to  the  law  officers  of  Your  Majesty  to  be  dealt  with 
as  Your  Majesty  deemed  fit.  And  what  are  the  thanks 
that  we  get  for  our  magnanimity  in  liberating  Jameson, 
Rhodes'  henchman?  Instead  of  thanks  we  are  cursed 
with  the  revival  of  the  Johannesburg  agitation  of  1895 
and  1896. 

These  are  the  men  who,  encouraged  and  assisted  by 
Mr.  Chamberlain,  are  trying  once  again  to  bring  misery 
upon  the  Transvaal,  and  as  a  means  to  this  end  and  in 
order  to  mislead  the  generous  British  public,  have  caused  a 
false  document,  stated  to  have  been  voluntarily  signed  by 
2  1,000  oppressed  aliens,  to  be  addressed  to  Your  Majesty. 
If  Your  Majesty  would  have  that  petition  sent  to  Johannes- 
burg to  be  publicly  and  impartially  scrutinized,  it  would 
soon  be  made  manifest  how  manv  thousands  of  the  names 
appended  thereto  are  of  persons  who  had  neither  read  nor 
seen  it,  and  of  numerous  others  who  have  long  been  dead. 
Armed  with  such  a  document  they  are  now  endeavoring 
to  bring  another  calamity  upon  the  Transvaal,  and,  per- 
haps, upon  the  whole  of  South  Africa.  Were  such  a 
scrutiny  to  take  place,  it  could  be  positively  proven  that 
many  whose  names  appear  as  signatures,  rather  than 
being  against  the  continuance  of  the  independence  of  the 
Transvaal,  have  grievances  against  the  framers  of  that 
notorious  petition,  and  would  like  to  bring  them  up,  for 
withholding  their  wages  or  ill-treatment.  Such,  we  are 
sure,  will  faithfully  stand  by  the  Boers  and  fight  for  their 
adopted  country;  unlike  the  auUiors  of  that  petition, 
whose  guilty  consciences  are  prompting  them  to  leave  the 
country  or  send  their  wives  and  money  away  to  Natal  or 
the  Cape  Colony.  All  this  for  fear  of  the  consequences 
of  their  own  wickedness.     They  have  insured  the  works 


/OUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN  VICTORIA.    265 

at  their  gold  mines  against  damage,  which  they  reck- 
lessly wish  to  cause  to  others.  The  wire-pullers  of  this 
vile  scheme  are  Messrs.  Rhodes,  Chamberlain  and 
Jameson. 

Your  Majesty,  what  are  we  expected  to  do?  We  are 
told  to-day  that  they  demand  the  franchise.  Would  it 
not  be  better  for  the  people  and  for  the  independence  of 
the  country  to  give  a  vote  to  every  raw  Englishman,  just 
arrived  in  the  country,  or  even  an  army  deserter,  than  to 
such  unscrupulous  capitalists  and  dishonest  speculators, 
whose  only  object  is  to  rob  the  South  African  Republic  of 
its  independence,  in  order  to  be  enabled  to  do  the  same 
here  with  the  gold  mines  as  they  did  with  the  diamond 
mines  at  Kimberley,  under  British  rule?* 

Your  Majesty,  it  was  with  a  deep  sense  of  pain  at  the 
critical  state  of  affairs  in  South  Africa,  that  I  commenced 
to  write  this  letter,  but  my  pain  and  indignation  have  been 
intensified  by  what  I  have  lately  read  in  the  newspapers 
of  Mr.  Chamberlain  and  his  statements  anent  the  Trans- 
vaal, which  he  fondly  hopes  will  be  accepted  as  gospel 
truth  by  every  one.  He  has  never  yet  been  in  the  Trans- 
vaal. I  have  been  to  London  and  yet  I  do  not  pretend 
to  know  all  about  it.  Would  it  not  be  presumption  on 
my  part  to  think  so?  And  does  he  alone  know  every- 
thing about  the  Transvaal?  No!  Your  Majesty.  Now  I 
see  clearly  that  he  has  been  misled,  that  he  has  believed 
in  fiction;  for  how  otherwise  could  he  have  uttered  such 
language?  Witness  his  bitter  speech  at  Birmingham 
when  he  referred  to  the  shooting  of  Edgar.  Your 
Majesty,  this  man  had  struck  another  a  mortal  blow,  and 
when  the  police  tried  to  arrest  him  he  struck  and  almost 
killed  one  of  them,  who  thereupon  shot  him  dead.  It 
was   indeed  a  regrettable  incident;  but  has  it  not  often 


266   JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN  VICTORIA. 

occurred  at  Hyde  Park  and  Trafalgar  Square,  that  the 
Enghsh  PoHce  have  found  it  necessary  to  fire  on  an  un- 
armed mob,  thereby  kilHng  and  wounding  private  citizens? 
And  did  ever  any  foreign  minister  dream  of  declaring 
war  against  England  or  make  unreasonable  demands  on 
account  of  such  action?  Mr.  Chamberlain  is  alarmed, 
forsooth,  because  a  woman  is  murdered  in  the  streets  of 
Johannesburg — a  circumstance  which  we  all  deplore,  yet 
cannot  discover  the  murderer.  We  have  offered  a  reward 
of  ^500  to  any  one  giving  information  that  will  lead  to 
the  conviction  of  the  person  who  committed  this  crime, 
but  up  to  the  present  we  have  failed  in  tracking  the  cul- 
prit. Now,  Your  Majesty,  how  many  women  were  mur- 
dered in  London  V^y  the  so-called  Jack-the-Ripper,  who, 
notwithstanding  Mr.  Chamberlain,  has  never  been  caught? 
And  yet  who  would  ever  dream  of  going  to  war  with 
England  because  of  this  Jack-the-Ripper?  Mr.  Cham- 
berlain, however,  would  set  the  whole  gf  South  Africa 
ablaze  just  because  we  have  not  captured  a  murderer,  or 
because  a  jury  has  not  convicted  an  Englishman  in  our 
police  service  of  a  certain  murder. 

Will  Your  Majesty  permit  a  small,  weak  State,  that 
has  time  after  time  relinquished  its  rights,  and  has  ever 
tried  to  live  in  peace  and  harmony  with  Your  Majesty's 
people  and  government,  to  be  oppressed  and  overthrown 
by  the  world  renowned  power  and  might  of  Great  Britain, 
simply  owing  to  the  misrepresentations  of  the  persons  I 
have  already  mentioned? 

Such  is  the  inquiry  of  one  who  considers  it  an  honor 
and  privilege  to  extol  Your  Majesty,  the  Queen  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  and  the  Empress  of  India,  and  to 
acknowledge  the  generosity  of  the  British  nation  and  of 
several  British  statesmen. 


JOUBERT'S  APPEAL    TO   QUEEN  VICTORIA.    267 

No!  Your  Majesty,  ever  in  supplication  to  the  Al- 
mighty, who  ruleth  over  Kings  and  Princes,  and  inclineth 
all  to  His  great  will,  I,  Your  Majesty's  humble  petitioner, 
will  never  believe  that  Your  Majesty  will  suffer  the  sacred 
rights  of  a  weak,  peace-loving  people  to  be  violated  in 
your  name,  and  South  Africa  to  be  cast  into  grief  and 
mourning.  To  the  contrary,  I  pray  Your  Majesty  that 
peace,  rest,  prosperity,  union  and  co-operation  will  reign 
in  Your  Majesty's  name  throughout  South  Africa,  and 
endure  as  long  as  there  remains  a  Boer  or  an  Englishman 
on  earth. 

Such  is  the  wish  and  prayer  of 

Your  Majesty's  most  humble  petitioner, 

P.  J:  JOUBERT. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
THE  DELAGOA  BAY   QUESTION. 

The   Gateway  to  the   Transvaal — Its   Strategic   Importance — Description  of 
the  Beautiful  Bay  and  Its  Fine  Port. 

ELAGOA  BAY  was  given  an  international  im- 
portance early  in  the  war  by  "'the  seizure  of 
German  and  American  vessels  with  supplies 
supposed  to  be  for  the  Transvaal  government. 
This  was  the  one  outlet  of  the  Boers  to  the  world  beyond 
their  own  borders,  and  Great  Britain  was  quick  to  see  the 
importance  of  controlling  it,  thus  acquiring  an  advantage 
greater  even  than  the  reinforcement  of  its  troops  in  the 
field. 

In  one  day  Delagoa  Bay.  which  had  been  merely  a 
name  for  a  sheet  of  water,  became  a  stronghold  of  pohtical 
strategy.  Suddenly  and  rapidly  it  developed  from  a 
geographical  expression  to  a  fact  of  enormous  significance 
in  international  history. 

Although  Portugal,  the  owner  of  the  bay,  had  declared 
neutrality  and  Great  Britain's  right  of  seizure  and  search 
in  neutral  waters  could  not  be  urged  through  any  inter- 
national precedent,  the  British  Government  relied  upon 
two  facts  to  sustain  it  in  assuming  control  of  the  waters  of 
the  bay  and  its  principal  port,  Lorenzo  Marquez:  First, 
that  Portugal  was  hopelessly  in  her  (Great  Britain's)  debt; 
and,  second,  that  her  naval  strength  was  too  great  to  be 
successfully  contested  by  any  of  the  parties  at  interest. 
As  Delagoa  Bay  was  destined  to  prove  such  a  potent 

268 


THE  DELAGOA    BAY  QUESTION.  269 

factor  in  the  conduct  of  the  war,  it  is  both  interesting  and 
important  that  the  reader  should  become  acquainted  with 
the  principal  facts  concerning  it.  Probably  no  one  could 
have  spoken  with  more  accurate  knowledge  of  these  facts 
than  Montague  George  Jessett,  F.  R.  G.  S. 

Mr.  Jessett  visited  the  spot  in  1897.  He  had  already 
read  up  all  the  available  literature  on  the  subject  scattered 
among  numerous  publications,  official,  journalistic  and 
descriptive.  Not  only  did  he  find  that  the  natural  beauty 
of  the  harbor  deserved  all  the  encomiums  that  it  had 
received,  but  he  was  confirmed  in  the  opinion  that  it  was 
of  the  utmost  commercial  and  strategical  value  to  any 
nation  that  possessed  it.  He  carefully  studied  the  place 
and  its  surroundings,  also  its  history  and  political  condi- 
tions. The  substance  of  his  eiTorts  is  given  in  the 
following : 

Delagoa  Bay,  he  informs  us,  is  the  finest  natural 
harbor  in  South  Africa.  It  extends  from  2 5. degrees  20 
minutes  to  26  degrees  30  minutes  south  latitude.  It  has 
a  length  of  nearly  seventy  miles  from  north  to  south,  and 
a  width  varying  from  sixteen  to  twenty-five  miles.  It 
forms  the  southern  extremity  of  the  Portuguese  territory 
of  Mozambique. 

The  harbor  offers  a  safe  anchorage  for  vessels  of  prac- 
tically any  tonnage.  Nearly  all  the  South  African  ports 
suffer  from  the  disadvantage  of  having  a  sand  bar.  Del- 
agoa Bay  is  no  exception,  although  it  is  not  a  serious  con- 
sideration in  this  case,  as  there  are  navigable  channels  of 
good  depth.  The  bar  is  nearly  half  a  mile  in  width, 
and  even  at  low  water  some  fourteen  feet  are  regis- 
tered. 

From  the  bay  to  the  inner  harbor  there  is  a  fine  sweep 
of  water,    making   a    magnificent   approach    to    Lorenzo 


270  THE  DELAGOA   BAY  QUESTION. 

Marquez,  which  is  situated  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Eng- 
Hsh  River,  just  below  Reuben  Point,  on  Inyack  Island. 
The  town  of  Lorenzo  Marquez  is  built  upon  a  low-lying 
spit  of  land,  and  is  about  as  ill-chosen  a  site  as  could  have 
been  pitched  upon.  Proper  drainage  and  the  reclamation 
of  the  swamp  at  its  back  have  done  much  to  improve 
matters;  still,  this  site  should  not  have  been  originally 
selected.  Reuben  Point,  however,  is  everything  that 
could  be  desired  in  the  shape  of  a  residential  locality,  and 
it  is  a  harbor  of  refuge  to  sufferers  from  malarial  fever,  or 
other  invalids. 

The  water  deepens  in  the  fairway  as  the  English 
River  is  approached,  but  shoals  on  the  further  side  from 
Lorenzo  Marquez  and  varies  somewhat  in  depth  in  differ- 
ent parts;  as  much  as  ten  fathoms  are  registered  just 
beyond  the  town. 

The  anchorage  is  good  and  the  holding  safe,  as  the 
harbor  is  so  well  sheltered.  The  length  of  the  inner  har- 
bor is  about  seven  miles  and  it  varies  greatly  in  width,  the 
widest  part  being  about  two  miles.  The  Matola,  the 
Umbelosi  and  the  Tembe  rivers  flow  into  the  harbor,  the 
two  latter  being  good-sized  rivers  and  navigable  for  some 
distance.  Large  vessels  can  proceed  for  a  considerable 
distance  up  these  streams  and  lighters  can  make  their 
way  for  many  miles  further. 

It  was  Vasco  da  Gama,  the  most  noted  among  the 
many  famous  Portuguese  navigators  of  the  fifteenth  and 
sixteenth  centuries,  who  discovered  Delagoa  Bay.  On 
July  4,  1497,  he  sailed  from  Lisbon  in  command  of  three 
vessels,  bent  on  discovering  a  new  route  to  India  by 
rounding  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  After  a  long  and 
adventurous  voyage  he  sailed  along  the  shores  of  that 
country  which  he  appropriately  named  Natal,  as  he  first 


*^->,  ■ 


THE  DELAGOA   BAY  QUESTION.  273 

saw  it  on  Christmas  day,  and  then  explored  the  east  coast 
from  QuilHmane  to  Beira  and  Mozambique. 

In  January,  1502,  he  made  another  voyage,  this  time 
in  command  of  twenty  vessels.  One  of  these  ships,  under 
command  of  Antonio  de  Campo,  lost  the  rest  of  the  fieet 
and  got  disabled  near  Cabo  des  Correntes,  and  in  this 
condition  simply  drifted  until  she  fortunately  got  shelter  in 
a  large  bay,  which  her  captain  christened  the  Bahia  da 
Lagoa,  or  Bay  of  the  Lakes. 

The  famous  epic  of  Camoens,  "The  Lusiad, "  is 
founded  upon  Da  Gam  as  first  voyage.  In  May,  1898, 
great  celebrations  were  held,  both  by  Portugal  and  Great 
Britain,  to  commemorate  the  four  hundredth  anniversary 
of  Da  Gama's  discoveries.  In  England  the  Royal  Geo- 
graphical Society  held  a  special  meeting,  at  which,  con- 
spicuous among  a  brilliant  assemblage,  was  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  who  in  the  course  of  an  excellent  speech  said  that 
England  had  every  reason  to  be  grateful  to  the  Portu- 
guese, because  she  had  profited  more  than  any  other 
nation  by  their  great  discovery. 

In  the  year  1544,  Lorenzo  Marquez  made  a  journey 
of  exploration  down  what  is  now  known  as  the  Eng- 
lish River  and  its  tributary,  the  Umbelosi.  In  honor 
of  his  successful  heroism,  the  small  station  soon 
after  formed  by  the  Portuguese  at  Delagoa  Bay  was 
named  Lorenzo  Marquez.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century  the  Portuguese  used  their  station 
in  a  small  way  as  the  debarkation  point  for  a  small 
ivory  trade.  A  little  vessel  was  sent  around  the 
coast  to  the  bay  at  very  long  intervals.  Eventually  even 
this  trade  ceased.  A  Dutch  expedition  which  landed 
in  2721  found  the  place  uninhabited  and  took  possession 
of  it.  In  a  few  years,  however,  they  were  driven  away 
16 


274  THE  DELAGOA   BAY  QUESTION. 

by  the  prevalence  of  malarial  fever.  Later,  a  French  set- 
tlement flourished  for  a  few  years  and  was  then  expelled 
by  the  Portuguese.  In  1822  an  Englishman  named  Cap- 
tain Owen,  under  the  sanction  of  the  Portuguese 
government,  conducted  an  expedition  to  Delagoa  Bay  for 
the  purpose  of  making  a  complete  geographical  survey. 

This  expedition  fell  in  with  a  number  of  the  natives, 
two  of  whose  chiefs  expressed  an  ardent  desire  to  come 
under  British  rule,  and  signed  documents  placing  their 
tribe  and  the  whole  of  their  territory  under  the  protection 
of  Great  Britain. 

But  no  sooner  had  Owen  departed  than  the  Portuguese 
forced  the  chiefs  to  sign  a  written  declaration  that  they 
were  and  always  had  been  subject  solely  to  Portuguese 
rule. 

Many  years  later,  in  1869,  the  British  government  set 
up  a  claim  to  the  territory  based  upon  the  documents  that 
Captain  Owen  had  obtained.  This  claim  Portugal  repu- 
diated. Nevertheless,  she  would  have  been  perfectly 
willing  to  sell  all  her  rights  to  England.  She  was  in  her 
usual  needy  circumstances,  and  had  not  yet  become,  alive 
to  the  fact  that  in  a  few  short  years  Delagoa  Bay  would 
grow  enormously  in  value  and  become  a  harbor  of  the 
first  importance.  Incredible  as  it  seems  to-day,  Lord 
Kimberley,  the  then  governor-general,  despite  the  urgent 
protest  of  the  British  high  commissioner,  let  slip  this 
magnificent  opportunity  of  acquiring  the  bay,  when,  it  is 
said,  it  might  have  been  purchased  for  the  paltry  sum  of 
about  $60,000.  As  many  millions  would  hardly  buy  it 
to-day. 

Instead,  he  elected  to  appeal  to  arbitration.  In  1872, 
by  a  protocol  signed  at  Lisbon,  the  dispute  was  referred 
to  Marshal  MacMahon,  President  of  the  French  Republic. 


THE  DELAGOA   BAY  QUESTION.  275 

After  the  case  had  been  argued  on  both  sides — well  and 
carefully  by  the  Portuguese,  badly  and  carelessly  by  the 
English — MacMahon,  on  July  24,  1875,  gave  his  decision 
in  favor  of  Portugal.  He  decided  that  the  want  of  effective 
occupation  on  the  part  of  Portugal  did  not  vitiate  her 
claims,  and  even  gave  her  more  territory  than  she  had 
asked  for.  In  return  the  Portuguese  government  bound 
itself  not  to  cede  or  to  sell  to  any  third  power  the  territory 
so  awarded  without  having  previously  given  Her  Britannic 
Majesty's  government  the  opportunity  of  making  a  reason- 
able offer  for  its  purchase  or  acquisition. 

When  trouble  with  the  Transvaal  arose  the  renewed 
attention  of  England  was  immediately  drawn  to  the  bay, 
and  it  was  clearly  seen  what  a  grave  menace  it  would 
prove  if  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  an  enemy.  Not  only 
would  English  shipping  be  imperiled,  but  the  harbor  itself 
would  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  landing  troops  and  im- 
portant supplies.  That  the  danger  was  not  an  imaginary 
one  was  proved  during  the  friction  with  the  Boers  at  the 
close  of  1895,  when  Germany  tried  to  land  troops  there 
for  service  in  the  Transvaal,  absolutely  ignoring  the  para- 
mount power  of  England. 

The  fact  is  further  emphasized  when  it  is  remembered 
that  the  neighboring  Island  of  Madagascar  is  in  the  hands 
of  the  French,  who  have  fortified  it  and  made  it  a  strong 
naval  station.  French  activity  has  been  marked  of  recent 
years,  and  it  is  easy  to  see  that,  having  ousted  England 
from  Madagascar,  she  is  particularly  anxious  to  safeguard 
that  possession  and  obtain  complete  control  over  the 
Mozambique  Channel.  So  long  as  Delagoa  Bay  remains 
in  the  hands  of  Portugal,  France  feels  herself  fairly  safe, 
as  that  country  cannot  harm  her,  and  the  mere  fact  of 
occupation  means  that  all  other  powers  are  kept  out. 


276  THE  DEkAGOA   BAY  QUESTION. 

The  moment,  however,  that  negotiations  for  the  ces- 
sion of  the  bay  to  England  were  opened,  France  strained 
every  nerve  to  prevent  this  new  EngHsh  acquisition.  Her 
great  desire  was  to  obtain  the  internationalization  of  the 
waters  of  the  bay  so  that  England  should  never  have  a 
chance  of  exercising  her  right  of  pre-emption  in  the  event 
of  Portugal  electing  to  sell,  owing  to  her  financial 
difficulties. 

In  the  summer  of  1898  negotiations  between  England 
and  Germany  were  entered  into  regarding  their  respective 
interests  in  South  Africa.  An  agreement  was  drawn  up 
which  indicated  that  the  German  government  would  not 
prevent  the  passage  of  Delagoa  Bay  into  the  hands  of  Great 
Britain,  while  special  clauses  favored  both  powers  regard- 
ing the  ultimate  division  of  Portuguese  territory  in  South 
Africa,  with  Portuguese  consefit.  But  for  the  strong 
opposition  excited  both  in  Germany  and  Portugal  this 
agreement  might  have  been  speedily  followed  by  the 
British  occupation  of  Delagoa  Bay. 

Meanwhile,  how  had  the  colony  of  Mozambique  flour- 
ished under  Portuguese  rule?  The  word  "flourished"  can 
be  used  only  in  a  sarcastic  sense.  Apathy,  culpable  neg- 
lect and  gross  ignorance  on  the  part  of  its  rulers  have 
allowed  the  magnificent  natural  resources  of  this  fertile 
land  to  remain  undeveloped.  From  its  inception  the  col- 
ony had  shown  a  yearly  loss  involving  a  serious  drain  on 
Portugal  until  1893,  when  there  was  a  small  balance  on 
the  right  side.  The  general  run  of  Portuguese  officials  in 
East  Africa  are  corrupt,  lazy  and  avaricious.  They  are 
the  ne'er-do-wells  whom  the  government  is  only  too  glad 
to  get  rid  of  by  giving  them  posts  in  its  colonies.  The 
pay  is  extremely  bad,  yet  with  the  help  of  bribes  they 
manage  to  keep  up  a  good  deal  of  style,  and  frequently, 


THE  DELAGOA   BAY  QUESTION.  277 

after    a    few  short    years,   retire  to    live    in    luxury   and 
idleness. 

Of  the  mismanagement  of  the  customhouse  many 
stories  are  told.  Cargoes  would  be  dumped  down  any- 
where and  actually  allowed  to  remain  indefinitely  until 
they  were  either  lost  or  spoiled.  Cases  of  crockery  and 
other  fragile  goods  were  hopelessly  mixed  up  with  barrels 
of  cement,  mining  machinery  and  mining  implements. 
As  a  rule  the  light  and  breakable  articles  found  their  way 
to  the  bottom,  surmounted  by  huge  packing  cases  and 
ponderous  barrels  or  crates.  Not  only  did  this  chaotic 
state  exist  in  the  custom  shed  and  its  vicinity,  but  goods 
were  also  dumped  down  in  the  public  gardens  and  stacked 
there.  This  heterogeneous  mass  of  valuable  merchandise 
would  lie  for  a  lengthened  period  exposed  to  the  elements 
and  would  get  so  inextricably  mixed  up  that  the  consignee 
might  account  himself  a  lucky  man  if  he  ever  got  his 
goods  at  all,  and  luckier  still  if  they  arrived  intact. 

A  story  is  told  of  how  a  consignment  of  typewriters 
was  condemned  on  the  supposition  that  they  were  rotten 
potatoes,  and  the  cases  were  thrown  overboard  from  a 
lighter  in  midstream.  A  writer  in  one  of  the  Cape  papers 
tells  of  an  interview  he  had  with  a  customhouse  officer 
who  happened  to  be  an  Englishman,  and  who  was  thor- 
oughly disgusted  with  the  condition  of  things  that  con- 
fronted him.  Pointing  to  a  man  who  was  searching 
among  a  huge  heap  of  cases  on  the  wharf,  he  said: 

"That  man  is  a  German  from  Johannesburg.  Some 
time  ago  he  imported  400  cases  of  tallow  candles. .  He  is 
still  looking  for  them.  I  can  tell  you  all  about  them. 
When  landed  they  were  left  outside  in  the  sun  for  months. 
You  see  that  heap  there  covered  with  coal  dust?  That's 
the  tallow,  which  melted  and  ran  out  of  the  cases.     When 


2  78  THE  DELAGOA   BAY  QUESTION. 

the  boxes  were  removed  the  bottom  fell  out  and  only  the 
wicks  were  left.  I'll  bet  he  doesn't  import  any  more  Ger- 
man tallow  candles  to  Dela<^oa  Bay." 

A  more  recent  story  concerns  a  very  proper  order 
issued  by  the  director  of  customs  prohibiting  dynamite 
from  being  discharged  among  general  merchandise  at  the 
wharf.  Now  it  happened  that  the  two  rival  French  steam- 
ship companies,  who  had  entered  into  competition  for 
Transvaal  trade  via  Dclagoa  Bay,  were  holding  out 
special  encouragements  to  French  mining  companies  in 
Johannesburg  and  exporters  in  France  in  the  carriage  of 
special  goods  at  special  rates.  Such  packages  were 
marked  '  'Demi  metre. "  A  Portuguese  official  misread 
this  mark  as  dynamite  and  hastened  to  report  his  dis- 
covery to  the  director  of  customs.  That  official  straight- 
way directed  the  instant  stoppage  of  all  work  on  the 
wharf.  "  The  1,500  employes  gladly  obeyed.  By  this 
time  the  Portuguese  hour  for  breakfast,  1 1  o'clock,  had 
arrived.  Portuguese  breakfast  consists  of  many  courses 
and  wine,  and  a  subsequent  siesta.  On  that  day  the 
director  did  not  return  to  his  office  until  3  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon.  He  found  it  besieged  by  landing  agents  and 
local  merchants,  and  other  employers  of  labor,  who  could 
not  understand  this  unexpected  and  unchronicled  Portu- 
guese holiday.  The  director  was  courteous,  but  slow  in 
his  movements.  It  took  another  hour  to  discover  that  the 
alleged  culprit  was  an  Irishman.  After  more  delay  his 
accuser  appeared  with  the  case  marked  "demi  metre." 
The  Irishman,  with  a  rnerry  twinkle  in  his  eye,  agreed 
that  the  case  should  be  opened,  but  suggested  that  more 
than  ordinary  care  should  be  used,  as  the  contents  might 
explode.  When  at  last  the  lid  was  forced  open  it  was 
found  that  the  case   contained  nothing  more  dangerous 


THE  DEL  AGO  A   BAY  QUESTION.  279 

than  fire  brick  in  transit  for  Johannesburg.  Work  was 
then  resumed,  but  1,500  natives  had  to  be  paid  1,500 
half-crowns  for  their  enforced  idleness  by  their  employers. 
It  was  really  the  visit  of  the  British  squadron  to 
Dclagoa  Bay  in  1897  that  first  attracted  universal  atten- 
tion to  this  wonderful  harbor  and  to  the  flagrant  abuses 
which  interfered  with  its  usefulness.  It  was  then  that 
King  Carlos  of  Portugal  addressed  the  court  at  Lisbon 
enjoining  the  necessity  of  immediate  reform.  Undoubt- 
edly marked  improvements  have  been  made  since  then  in 
all  directions.  Jetties  and  wharves  have  been  built  or 
rebuilt,  cranes  erected,  and  harbor  works  put  in  hand. 
An  enormous  park,  no  less  than  the  building  of  a  new 
wharf  from  the  government  pier  right  to  Reuben  Point, 
over  two  miles  in  length,  has  been  commenced.  The 
work,  however,  has  been  carried  on  in  a  desultory  man- 
ner, and  heaven  only  knows  when  it  will  be  finished  if  left 
in  the  hands  of  the  Portuguese.  This  is  one  of  the  first 
and  most  important  of  the  projects  that  it  is  incumbent 
on  the  English  to  carry  through  if  they  obtain  control  of 
the  bay. 

Nevertheless,  despite  all  drawbacks,  such  are  the 
natural  advantages  of  the  place  that  the  trade  of  Lorenzo 
Marquez  has  steadily  increased,  as  a  reference  to  the  con- 
sular reports  for  the  last  few  years  will  show.  It  appears 
that  the  tonnage  which  entered  the  port  of  Delagoa  Bay 
during  the  month  of  August,  1899,  showed  an  increase  of 
4,000  over  the  previous  month.  This  looks  well,  and 
shows  how,  even  in  Portuguese  hands,  trade  is  bound  to 
keep  improving  owing  to  the  obvious  advantages  possessed 
by  the  port.  At  the  present  time  there  are  as  many  as 
fifteen  regular  steamship  lines  calling  at  Lorenzo  Mar- 
quez. and  there  is  no  doubt  that  with  proper  manage- 


28o  THE  DEL  AGO  A   BAY  QUESTION. 

ment  and  increased  facilities  in  transit  arrangements  the 
shipping  will  be  largely  augmented. 

As  the  trade  slowly  improves  and  the  harbor  opens  up 
a  better  class  of  people  have  been  gradually  attracted  to 
the  place.  Shops  and  stores  have  gone  up,  as  well  as 
fine  houses,  in  the  wisely  chosen  residential  quarter,  on 
the  commanding  site  known  as  Reuben  Point;  roads  have 
been  built,  electric  lighting  has  been  introduced,  and  land 
has  increased  in  value  by  leaps  and  bounds.  The  popu- 
lation, which  was  300  in  1890,  is  6,000  to-day.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1897,  the  New  Netherlands  Railway  made  up 
seventy-five  trains  and  carried  10, 716  tons.  In  the  cor- 
responding month  of  the  next  year  1 1 1  trains  were  made 
up  for  the  Transvaal,  carrying  12,589  tons,  showing  a 
gain  in  1898  over  1897  of  thirty-six  trains  and  1,873 
tons. 

^The  New  Netherlands  and  Delagoa  Bay  railways, 
which,  of  course,  are  the  chief  cause  of  all  this  prosperity, 
were  the  result  of  frequent  intermittent  attempts  during 
almost  half  a  century  to  bring  the  Transvaal  in  connec- 
tion with  Delagoa  Bay.  It  was  the  discovery  of  the  gold 
mines  of  the  former  state  and  the  realization  of  the 
enormous  advantages  to  be  secured  by  shipment  of  the  ore 
to  the  nearest  seaport  which  brought  these  attempts  to  a 
successful  issue. 

In  1887  Colonel  Edward  McMurdo,  an  American 
citizen  formed  a  company  in  London  to  work  a  conces- 
sion from  the  Portuguese  government  for  ninety  years  for 
the  construction  of  a  railroad  from  Delagoa  Bay  to  the 
Transvaal  frontier  at  the  Koomati  Poort  River.  The  line 
was  partly  opened  in  1888,  its  extension  to  Pretoria  and 
Johannesburg  was  sanctioned  by  the  Volksraad  of  the 
South  African  Republic  in  1890,  and  it  became  an  accomp- 


THE  DEL  AGO  A   BAY  QUESTION. 


281 


lished  fact  in  1895.  It  was  generally  believed  that  the 
British  occupation  would  indefinitely  increase  its  useful- 
ness and  open  up  new  channels  of  profit  for  railway  and 
for  patrons. 

There  is  the  coal  trade,  for  example,  which  has  been 
seriously  hampered  by  excessive  freight  charges  on  coal 
drawn  from  the  Middleburg  districts.  With  a  reasonable 
railway  tariff  Lorenzo  Marquez  might  within  a  few  years 
become  the  principal  coaling  station  of  the  Indian  Ocean, 
This  alone  would  be  sufficient  to  insure  the  prosperity  of 
the  port.  Immense  coal  fields  have  been  discovered  in 
the  country  lying  between  Delagoa  Bay  and  the  Lebombo 
Mountains.  These  could  also  be  made  to  supply  the 
demand  for  fuel  of  a  large  extent  of  territory  along  the 
east  coast  and  Madagascar. 

Another  potential  industry  promising  opulent  results 
is  sugar  growing.  There  is  no  doubt  that  sugar  would 
thrive  magnificently  anywhere  in  the  Lorenzo  Marquez 
district,  provided  proper  attention  were  paid  to  its  cultiva- 
tion. Here  alone  is  an  immense  source  of  income  of  a 
permanent  character  and  the  means  of  employment  of  a 
vast  number  of  people. 

There  is  no  reason  whatsoever  why  Delagoa  Bay  and 
its  hinterland  should  not  grow  sugar  cane  to  a  very  large 
extent  and  successfully  compete  with  the  Natal  estates. 
Both  the  climate  and  the  soil  are  eminently  suited  for  the 
cultivation  of  sugar  cane,  and,  looking  at  the  fact  that 
Delagoa  Bay  is  so  splendidly  situated  in  respect  of  find- 
ing a  market  for  its  products  to  the  Transvaal  via  the 
railway  on  the  one  hand  and  a  general  export  trade  from 
the  port  on  the  other,  there  is  no  reason  why  this  industry 
should  not  be  a  most  flourishing  and  permanent  one. 

Again,   this  particular  region  is  well    adapted  to  the 


282  THE  DELAGOA   BAY  QUESTION. 

supply  of  grain,  the  soil  being  so  rich  and  good  and  the 
climate  suitable. 

The  Natalians  have  been  very  successful  in  the  pro- 
duction of  excellent  tea,  which  is  not  so  astringent  as  the 
Indian  and  Chinese  teas,  it  having  a  less  percentage  of 
tannin  in  it — but  has  a  delicate  flavor.  Tea  growing 
might  be  commenced  tentatively  in  the  rich  country  be- 
hind Delagoa  Bay,  and  if  found  to  answer,  as  there  is 
every  chance  of  its  doing,  it  would  add  another  important 
industry  to  the  long  list  that  will  be  formed  and  prove 
flourishing  in  the  future.  In  the  same  way  experiments 
should  be  made  in  the  cultivation  of  coffee,  tobacco,  etc., 
for  if  soil,  facilities  for  irrigation  and  climate  go  for  any- 
thing this  country  should  become  the  most  productive  in 
South  Africa,  especially  in  view  of  the  situation  and  the 
splendid  facilities  for  transport. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
SHORT  STORIES  OF  THE  WAR. 

Interesting  Facts  about  South  Africa  with  Relation  to  the  Boer-British  Con- 
test— Tales  of  Battle-fields  and  Personal  Heroism. 

OLIVE   SCHREIXER   TELLS    OF    LOYAL    BOERS. 


i^EW,    IF  ANY,  are  better  qualified  to- speak  or 


i  write  of  the  Boers  than  OHve  Schreiner, 
^4^4^  whose  "Story  of  an  African  Farm"  gave 
^  Americans     their     first     insight     into      South 

African  hfe. 

During  the  war  she  was  interviewed  with  special  refer- 
ence to  the  Cape  Colony  Dutch. 

"Ah,"  she  said,  "  Sir  Alfred  Milner  and  this  malicious 
press  do  not  understand  (or  is  it  even  possible  they  do 
understand?)  what  they  have  done  in  separating  Dutch 
and  British,  and  in  sowing  these  charges  of  disloyalty  at 
such  a  time.  These  men  and  women  are  suffering  a  ter- 
rible strain.  All  of  them  have  sons  and  relatives  in  the 
commandos  of  the  Transvaal  or  Free  State,  and  they 
learn  that  the  soldiers  of  the  Queen,  the  great  English- 
woman whose  portrait  is  nailed  up  on  their  walls,  are 
marching  to  shoot  them  down.  And  on  top  of  all  this 
they  are  being  goaded  to  disloyalty  by  those  suspicions 
and  accusations." 

' '  But  is  it  true  that  these  Boers  have  any  genuine 
feeling  for  the  Colony  and  the  British  Government?" 

283 


284  SHORT  STORIES   OF  THE    WAR. 

' '  Most  certainly.  Great  Britain  is  the  only  country 
to  which  they  have  ever  looked.  They  are  proud  of  their 
government;  they  have  loved  the  Colony  as  a  part  of  the 
British  Empire,  just  as  in  America  an  inhabitant  of  Vir- 
ginia or  Ohio  loves  and  backs  his  State  as  against  the 
other  States.  Now  they  feel  pain  and  bitter  resentment 
that  their  fidelity  should  suddenly  be  questioned." 

"  How  did  they  first  come  to  this  suspicion  ?" 

"Well,  it  was  perhaps  the  forts  and  the  soldiers  that 
were  placed  amongst  them.  They  felt  this  deeply. 
'Why  are  they  building  these  forts  at  De  Aar  and  other 
places?  Why  are  these  soldiers  brought  here?  When 
have  we  been  disloyal  ?  '  These  are  the  questions  they 
kept  asking." 

"  But  are  these  people  not  really  anti-English?" 

"You  would  not  ask  this  if  you  had  been  among  them. 
I  could  drive  you  to  farm  after  farm  where  you  would 
have  found  all  the  younger  generation  proud  of  learning  to 
speak  English  and  of  dressing  in  English  fashion  and 
learning  English  ways.  In  most  of  these  small  Dutch 
cottages  you  would  find  a  harmonium  and  a  book  of  Eng- 
lish songs,  which  the  daughters  spent  their  leisure  time  in 
practicing — songs  mostly  glorifying  the  British  army  and 
navy!  The  girls  would  make  a  sort  of  apology  for  their 
mother,  saying,  '  My  mother,  she  can  really  understand 
some  English,  though  she  does  not  speak  it.'  All  of  them 
have  been  anxious  to  be  as  English  as  possible. " 

"  But  I  suppose  this  will  not  continue  now?"  I  said. 

"Why,  naturally  not.  This  is  the  very  worst  thing 
we  are  doing;  we  are  killing  the  love  of  these  people. 
England  in  her  imperial  policy  is  losing  her  empire  over 
their  hearts.  In  twenty-five  years  there  would  have  been 
no  more  Dutch  and  English  in  this  colony,  but  a  fused 


SHORT  STORIES   OF   THE    WAR.  285 

Afrikander  people  owning  allegiance  to  Great  Britain  as 
their  mother.     But  this  hope  is  gone." 

"But  what  are  their  thoughts  on  the  present  situa- 
tion?    Do  they  bring  political  analysis  to  bear  on  it?" 

"Yes;  they  are  tremendous  politicians,  most  of  them. 
Whenever  they  meet  at  markets,  fairs,  or  church  gather- 
ings they  will  lay  out  the  whole  of  politics  as  they  see  it. 
Their  bitterest  feeling  is  that  they  are  being  kept  from 
the  Queen,  for  whom  they  have  intense  love  and  rever- 
ence. It  seems  strange  to  English  people,  but  these 
primitive  folk  think  the  Queen  must  be  accessible,  like 
Paul  Kruger,  and  they  have  a  personal  pride  and  belief 
in  her," 

' '  Is  there  any  truth  in  what  is  said — that  this  sort 
of  regard  for  the  Queen  does  not  prevent  them  from 
entertaining  treason  against  the  British  Government  ?" 

"No;  this  is  sheer  misunderstanding.  They  largely 
see  the  government  personified  in  the  Queen  and  in  the 
British  Ministers  of  the  Colony.  They  feel,  '  this  is  our 
government,  our  Queen';  and  their  charge  against  Cham- 
berlain and  Milner  is  that  they  have  come  between  the 
people  and  their  Queen.  An  old  ^  farmer  a  few  weeks 
ago  put  the  matter  quaintly:  '  There  are  two  people  we 
don't  want  to  see  dead;  it  is  a  pity  they  are  old — one  is 
the  Queen,  the  other  Paul  Kruger;  the  young  will  never 
take  their  place.'  I  fear  more  than  anything  for  the 
shock  which  will  be  felt  when  they  come  to  realize  that 
they  cannot  get  to  the  Queen.  'Why  don't  you  go  to 
the  Queen  and  speak  for  us?'  more  than  one  has  said  to 
me.  Up  to  the  last  they  often  said  to  me,  '  Our  Queen 
won't  allow  our  friends  to  be  killed. 

• '  And  how  do  they  account  for  what  has  happened  ? 
Whom  do  they  blame  ?" 


286  SHORT  STORIES   OF   THE    WAR. 

"First,  let  me  tell  you  a  curious  thing  about  them. 
They  seem  to  have  no  vindictive  feelings  whatever  against 
the  English  soldiers  sent  to  fight  their  friends  and  rela- 
tives. Most  commonly  they  speak  of  them  with  a  certain 
pity.  'Die  armie  Rooibaatje,  poor  chaps;  what  have 
they  done  that  they  should  be  shot?'  I  verily  believe 
there  is  not  a  Boer  woman  among  them  that  would  not 
open  her  heart  to  a  wounded  soldier,  turn  out  of  her  bed 
to  give  it  to  him,  and  nurse  him  as  tenderly  as  her  own 
son." 

"Whom,  then,  do  they  hold  responsible  for  the 
trouble?" 

"It  is  not  Mr.  Chamberlain,  nor  Sir  Alfred  Milner, 
though  they  say,  'He  has  blackened  us. '  Their  anger  is 
reserved  for  one  man,  whom  they  regard  as  the  root  of  the 
evil.  The  whole  face  will  harden  at  the  name,  Rhodes — 
'the  traitor, '  as  they  always  term  him.  Before  the  matter 
had  fully  ripened  into  war  I  was  talking  with  an  old  Boer 
farmer,  a  man  of  substance  and  of  great  influence  in  his 
district.  He  put  it  in  this  way:  'When  I  think  over  the 
matter,  it  seems  to  me  Rhodes  and  those  men  won't  be 
able  to  make  war;  as  they  say  "our  Old  Lady"  has 
always  been  good  to  us  and  loved  justice,  and  she  won't 
let  it  be.'" 

"Was  it  altogether  Rhodes  they  blamed?" 

"Well,  chiefly  Rhodes;  sometimes  the  capitalists. 
They  would  sum  up  the  discussion  thus:  'And  the  root 
of  the  matter  is  Naboth's  vineyard — the  gold,  and  the 
capitalists  that  want  it.'  They  have  very  clearly  grasped 
the  kernel — the  determination  of  the  capitalists  to  control 
the  whole  country;  not  only  the  mines  and  the  towns' 
wealth,  but  the  land.  And  when  they  have  got  the  land. 
where  is  our  freedom?     But    'the  capitalists'  is  no  vague 


SHORT  STORIES   OF   THE   WAR.  287 

Socialist  catchword.  These  people  always  mean  those 
who  buy  up  land,  buy  up  votes,  and  so  try  to  get  away 
their  freedom. " 

"And  tell  me,  what  do  you  think  will  be  the  effect 
when  these  people  relize  fully  the  blow?" 

"I  would  rather  not  answer;  I  cannot  tell.  Much  de- 
pends upon  the  discretion  of  the  Imperial  government. 
One  touch  upon  the  principle  of  responsible  government 
in  the  Colony  would  rouse  in  them  that  fine  free  instinct 
for  representative  institutions  brought  from  Holland  and 
born  and  bred  in  the  bones  of  these  colonists.  Then, 
again,  press  and  politicians  have  a  terrible  responsibility. 
Let  me  read  you  a  passage  from  a  letter  received  this 
morning  from  an  Englishman,  a  wealthy  merchant,  who 
has  lived  many  years  up  country:  'The  people  of  this 
district  are  remaining  quiet,  although  the  papers  are  eag- 
erly read.  If  they  could  only  stop  those  lying,  peace-dis- 
turbing upstarts  who  are  spreading  reports  about,  I  should 
have  no  fear  of  disturbance.     For  instance,  on   Saturday 

a  man  told  me  he  had  been  informed  by  Mr.  that  if 

the  Transvaal  Boers  lost  we  should  all  become  slaves,  our 
Parliament  would  be  taken  from  us,  and  Cape  Colony 
taxed  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  war. '  Lies  of  this  sort 
are  intentionally  circulated  over  the  country  and  have  a 
very  disturbing  effect.  The  Rhodesites  are  impressing  on 
them  that  they  will  lose  their  government,  so  goading 
them  to  rise." 

"How  do  these  Dutch  feel  towards  Sir  Alfred  Milner?'' 

*  'They  simply  feel  that  they  have  no  relation  at  all  to 
him;  that  he  has  never  taken  the  trouble  to  comprehend 
them.  'Ah,'  they  would  say  to  me,  'if  we  only  had  one 
of  our  old  governors  back,  the  good  old  governors  we  used 
to  have,    they  would  put  everything  right;  they  under- 


288  SHORT  STORIES  OF  THE   WAR. 

stood  us.  If  Sir  George  Grey  were  still  alive  we  could  go 
to  him.' " 

'  'Then  the  common  view  that  they  hate  Englishmen 
is  false?" 

"It  is  an  utter  misapprehension  of  Dutch  feeling. 
Much  of  the  apparent  hostility  is  wounded  feeling.  Treat 
the  Dutchman  kindly,  win  his  affection  and  trust,  and 
there  is  no  limit  to  his  confidence  in  you.  It  is  false  to 
say  he  has  a  natural  antipathy  towards  Englishmen.  I 
would  rather  say  he  waits  with  open  arms,  and  if  you 
stand  off  from  him,  as  so  many  English  do,  he  feels  bit- 
terly about  it.  'You  are  my  fellow-countryman  and  you 
won't  be  my  brother.'  The  English  new-comer  starts  too 
often  with  the  notion  that  a  Boer  is  a  sort  of  inferior 
strange  animal.  The  Boers  themselves  often  laugh  over 
these  stories,  but  they  feel  them  all  the  same.  They 
were  telling  me  a  lot  of  anecdotes  abput  Tommy  Atkins. 
At  Orange  River  one  of  the  newly  arrived  English  soldiers 
went  into  a  store  and  asked  the  Dutchman  who  kept  it, 
•Are  there  any  Boers  about,  because  I  want  to  see  what 
they  look  like?'  'Well,  I'm  a  Boer.'  'What!  You  a  Boer? 
Nonsense!'  'Well,  but  I  am  a  Boer.'  'Why,  you  look 
just  like  any  other  man!'  It  is  a  terrible  mistake  that  is 
being  made — the  alienation  of  the  hearts  of  these  people. 
How  easy  they  are  to  be  governed  by  affection!  There 
is  nothing  they  won't  do  for  a  man  who  is  true  to  them. 
As  things  go  now,  we  are  crushing  and  destroying  this 
great  true  power  of  government.  More  than  that,  we  are 
even  causing  them  to  lose  their  faith  in  God.  They  are 
religious  folk  of  the  old  sort.  'God  is  still  reigning;  He 
will  see  to  the  right.'  That  has  been  their  confidence. 
What  will  be  their  feeling  after  England's  destruction  of 
their  fellow-Boers  in  South  Africa?" 


SHORT  STORIES  OF  THE   WAR.  291 

BOER    OCCUPATION    OF    ELANDSLAAGTE. 

(^As  told  by  the  Station  Master,   G.  P.  Atkinson). 

Elandslaagte  Station  is  situated  on  the  Natal  main 
line,  between  Durban  and  Johannesburg,  and  lies  sixteen 
miles  to  the  north  of  Ladysmith  and  thirty-one  miles 
south  of  Dundee.  At  the  time  it  was  taken  possession  of 
by  the  Boers  under  General  Koch,  the  Elandslaagte  Col- 
leries  were  the  last  mines  left  working,  all  others  in  the 
Colony  having  been  stopped  by  the  Boers.  These  mines, 
with  a  capacity  of  10,000  or  1 1,000  tons  of  coal  per  month, 
would  have  been  a  valuable  source  of  fuel  for  both  the 
engines  and  the  transports  employed  in  conveying  troops, 
and  when  they  were  captured  it  was  felt  to  be  a  distinct 
blow  to  our  communications.  Further,  no  provisions, 
ammunition,  or  instructions  could  be  sent  to  General 
Penn  Symons  at  Dundee  in  consequence  of  the  cutting 
of  the  line  and  wires  at  this  point. 

On  the  19th  of  October  a  party  of  Boers  not  exceed- 
ing fifty  rode  up  shortly  after  midday,  ju^t  as  a  train  of 
military  stores  for  Dundee  Camp  was  in  the  station.  The 
train  was  moving  when  they  rode  up,  but  was  to  have 
stopped  for  mail-bags.  The  Boers,  being  under  the 
impression  that  the  train  was  leaving,  galloped  up,  and 
shouted  to  the  driver  to  stop;  while  the  leader  seized  the 
the  station-master,  and,  with  a  rifle  at  his  head,  peremp- 
torily ordered  him  to  stop  the  train.  The  station-master, 
however,  had  heard  previously  of  the  near  presence  of 
the  enemy,  and  had  ordered  the  driver  of  the  train  to  get 
to  Dundee  at  any  cost,  an  order  which  was  carried  out  to 
the  letter  under  great  difficulties,  and  at  as  great  risk  as 
ever  soldier  is  put  to.  Consequently  the  orders  and  threats 
had  no  effect;  and  when  the  train  was  seen  to  be  getting 
17 


292  SHORT  STORIES   OF   THE    WAR. 

clear  the  burgher  who  had  seized  the  station-master  left 
him  for  a  few  moments  to  enable  him  to  take  accurate 
aim  at  the  driver.  At  this  time  the  crack  of  rifles  was 
incessant,  while  the  feats  of  horsemanship  shown  by  those 
Boers  who  galloped  after  the  train  at  full  speed,  firing 
without  slackening  to  reload,  made  a  scene  full  of  anima- 
tion and  interest  even  to  those  left  behind,  who  had  no 
means  of  escape.  It  was  during  this  excitement  that  the 
station-master  was  able  to  slip  away  unobserved  and  tele- 
phone the  authorities  in  Ladysmith  what  had  happened. 
He  had,  a  few  minutes  before  the  arrival  of  this  train, 
appraised  the  Ladysmith  officials  of  the  probability  of 
attack,  and  consequently  they  were  on  the  qui  vive;  his 
brief  message,  ' '  First  train  escaped,  second  captured, " 
was  just  acknowledged,  and  he  himself  just  clear  of  the 
instrument,  \^hen  two  Boers  rushed  in  to  prevent  com- 
munications. Passing  them,  he  rejoined  the  man  who 
had  first  seized  him,  and  when  subsequently  the  question 
was  raised  as  to  whether  he  had  used  the  wire,  the  Boers 
seemed  quitfe  satisfied  that  he  had  had  the  station  official 
under  his  wing  from  the  moment  he  rode  on  to  the  plat- 
form. Firing  was  kept  up  for  some  time,  as  the  Mauser 
rifles  carry  up  to  nearly  4,000  yards,  thus  enabling  the 
Boers  to  harass  the  train  people  for  a  considerable 
distance.  In  the  end,  however,  the  train  and  its  valuable 
contents  got  clear  away. 

A  second  train,  which  arrived  during  the  attack  on  the 
first,  was  not  so  fortunate.  The  driver  of  this  one  heard 
the  heavy  firing,  and  prudently  pulled  up.  The  Field- 
Cornet  then  rode  up  and  vented  his  rage  at  losing  the 
train  on  the  station-master,  but  before  an  hour  passed  he 
apologized  sincerely  for  his  forgetfulness  in  threatening 
death  to  a  civilian  for  an  act  of  simple  duty.     After  this 


SHORT  STORIES   OF   THE    WAR.       *         293 

the  rails  and  wires  were  cut.  the  station  signal  lowered  to 
induce  another  train,  should  one  come,  to  run  in  and  be 
wrecked,  and  the  station  staff  were  marched  off  to  the 
neighboring  hotel,  and  confined  with  many  others  under 
guard  in  a  small  room.  Fortunately,  all  women  and 
children  had  been  sent  south  some  days  before. 

The  manager  of  the  mines  was  requested  to  keep  his 
men  at  work,  and  was  allowed  to  take  half  of  a  truck  of 
rice  consigned  to  him,  in  order  to  feed  his  Indian  laborers, 
but  he  and  his  men  were  warned  not  to  leave  the  imme- 
diate locality.  General  Koch  personally  told  the  station- 
master:  "If  any  of  you  are  found  on  the  veldt,  you  will  be 
shot  indiscriminately."  The  station-house  was  occupied 
by  Captain  T.  De  Witt  Hamer,  of  the  Second  Volksraad, 
with  one  hundred  men,  and  during  the  battle  of  Eland- 
slaagte  on  October  21  its  contents  were 'carried  off  or 
destroyed.  The  contents  of  the  neighboring  stores  were 
distributed  among  the  burghers  on  the  principle  of  "first 
come,  first  served,"  and  the  contents  of  the  captured 
wagons  were  dealt  with  similarly. 

The  escape  of  the  English  prisoners  was  effected  on 
the  morning  of  October  21,  and  they  were  well  pleased 
to  escape  with  their  lives  and  leave  their  belongings 
behind.  They  were  in  imminent  danger  for  some  time 
from  English  shell  fii'e.  This  trouble  was  not  unexpected, 
and  during  the  three  days  of  their  confinement  it  had 
been  a  question  of  .some  interest  as  to  how  they  would 
stand  in  the  event  of  the  English  troops  opening  fire  on 
the  Dutch.  The  first  English  shell  dropped  within  thirty 
yards  of  the  prisoners,  and  others  came  unpleasantly  near; 
but  in  the  end  they  made  their  way  on  foot  across  country 
to  the  British  lines,  their  pace  being  accelerated  by  the 
frequent   booming  of  the  Dutch  guns  in  their  rear,  and 


294        *     SHORT  STORIES   OF   THE    WAR. 

the  screeching  and  occasional  bursting  overhead  of  their 
shells.  Twice  during  the  escape  they  were  under  the 
cover  of  English  fire  (after  getting  a  turn  of  its  dangers), 
and  twice  the  troops  were  withdrawn  (until  sufficient  rein- 
forcements arrived),  leaving  the  runaways  to  shift  for 
themselves.  In  the  end  they  reached  safety  in  Lady- 
smith. 

SUFFERINGS    OF    BRITISH    TROOPS. 

An  idea  of  how  the  British  troops  suffered  from  the 
climate  may  be  obtained  from  the  following,  written  by  a 
correspondent  at  Estcourt : 

"At  last  I  have  been  trapped,  and  do  not  know  if 
this  mail  will  reach  you.  The  wires  and  railway  line 
have  been  cut,  and  we  are  practically  in  a  state  of 
siege.  We  have  really  done  nothing  the  whole  week 
except  tire  ourselves  to  death.  We  seem  never  to  fight 
now;  just  advance,  look  at  the  enemy,  who  occupy  the 
hills,  fatigue  our  troops,  marching  them  in  the  broiling 
sun  and  in  the  drenching  rain,  leaving  them  out  all 
night,  and  then  retire  in  the  morning,  allowing  the  enemy 
to  close  in.  There  may  be  some  reason  for  it,  but  up  to 
the  present  I  do  not  see  it.  Our  men  are  simply  aching 
to  fight,  but  they  never  seem  ,to  be  allowed  to.  This  is 
the  season  for  bad  weather,  and  thunderstorms  rage 
every  day.  The  day  before  yesterday  we  got  caught  in 
one  while  out  in  the  veldt — no  shelter  whatever;  the  light- 
ning was  quite  blinding,  and  continually  splashed  close  to 
us.  Two  oxen  were  killed  outright  not  far  from  our 
path,  and  the  hailstones,  withotit  exaggeration,  were  as 
large  as  pigeons'  eggs — and  most  painful.  Our  horses 
suffered  especially.  And  through  this  have  our  unfor- 
tunate troops'  to  march,  wait,  and  retreat.     Daily  every 


SHORT  STORIES   OF   THE    WAR.  ^95 

man  is  soaked  to  the  skin,  and  with  all  this  there  is 
hardly  a  picture  to  make — nothing  but  advancing  and 
retreating,  and  watching  the  enemy  about  five  miles  off." 

NAMING    HARRISMITH    AND    LADYSMITH. 

Ladysmith,  where  Sir  George  Stewart  White  was 
besieged,  was  named  in  honor  of  the  wife  of  Sir  Harry 
George  Wakelyn  Smith,  Bart.,  who  gave  the  name  to  the 
town  of  Harrismith  in  the  Orange  Free  State.  He  was 
descended  from  an  old  Cambridgeshire  family  residing  at 
Whittlesey,  in  the  Isle  of  Ely,  some  six  miles  from  Peter- 
borough. His  father,  a  surgeon,  who  lived  to  a  great 
age,  had  four  sons,  three  of  whom  were  soldiers  and  the 
fourth  a  doctor. 

The  three  soldier  sons  went  through  the  Peninsular 
War,  and  were  at  Waterloo  and  returned  safely.  Sir  ' 
Harry  was  the  eldest,  Captain  Charles  Smith  was  the 
second.  Colonel  Thomas  Smith,  C.B.,  being  the  young- 
est. At  the  battle  of  the  Coa  Sir  Harry  (then  a  major) 
and  Colonel  Thomas  (then  a  lieutenant)  were  wounded, 
though  the  former's  wound  was  not  a  severe  one.  They 
were  brought  from  the  scene  of  battle  many  miles  down  a 
rough  country  in  a  shaky,  cart,  and  their  suffering  was 
intense;  the  present  ambulance  advantages  were  not  then 
in  existence. 

The  two  brothers  were .  placed  in  the  same  hospital, 
and  a  young  doctor  came  to  dress  their  wounds,  which 
were  in  a  frightful  condition  for  want  of  attention.  With 
one  hand  this  doctor  unbandaged  the  damaged  knee,  and 
with  the  other  he  held  a  bouquet  to  his  nose.  Sir  Harry, 
less  badly  wounded,  watched  the  doctor  and  the 
bouquet — 


296  SHORT  STORIES  OF  THE   WAR. 

Which  ever  and  anon 
He  gave  his  nose,  and  took't.  away  again, 
And  as  the  soldiers  bore  dead  bodies  by 
He  called  them  untaught  knaves,  unmannerly, 
To  bring  a  slovenly,  unhandsome  corse 
Betwixt  the  wind  and  his  nobility. 

Sir  Harry  (like  Hotspur) — 

Then  all  smarting  with  his  wounds  being  cold, 
To  be  so  pestered  with  a  popinjay, 

jumped  out  of  bed  and  kicked  the  young  doctor  down 
the  stairs.  This  was  a  breach  of  mihtary  discipHne  for 
which  he  was  brought  before  the  Duke  and  admonished, 
but  the  Duke  secretly  laughed  at  the  circumstance.  Sir 
Harry  was  at  the  siege  of  Badajos;  here  a  ver}'  interest- 
ing incident  occurred.  He' was  standing  with  the  general 
and  staff  when  a  Spanish  countess  and  her  young  sister 
came  to  the  general  for  protection.  Sir  Harry  was 
smitten  by  the  charms  of  the  younger  of  the  fair  petition- 
ers; this  ripened  into  love,  and  she  eventually  became 
his  wife — Lady  Smith,  from  whom  comes  the  name  of  the 
town  of  ' '  Ladysmith, "  now  so  famous. 

At  Waterloo,  Sir  Harry  Smith  was  brigade  major;  his 
brother  Thomas  was  adjutant  of  the  Rifle  Brigade. 

Sir  Harry  was  a  good  soldier,  and  showed  great  skill 
and  bravery  in  the  Sikh  Wars.  At  the  battle  of  Aliwal 
(which  was  entirely  his  battle,  and  for  which  he  was 
created  a  baronet,  with  a  pension  to  Lady  Smith),  he 
defeated  the  Sikhs  with  great  slaughter.  Wherever  he 
went  there  was  fighting  to  be  done,  and  he  almost  died  in 
harness. 

Lady  Smith  accompanied  him  wherever  he  went.     She 
was  at  the  battle  of  Chill ian wallah,  and  received  a  medal, 


SHORT  STORIES   OF  THE    WAR.  297 

'which  is  still   in    the    possession    of   the    family.     Lady 
Gough  was  also  at  this  severe  fight. 

On  his  return  from  his  victories  against  the  Sikhs,  a 
banquet  was  given  him  at  his  native  place — Whittlesey. 
When  returning  thanks,  he  quoted  the  well-known  lines: 

Breathes  there  a  man  with  soul  so  dead, 
Who  never  to  himself  hath  said, 

"This  is  my  own,  my  native  land!" 
Whose  heart  hath  ne'er  within  him  burned, 
As  home  his  footsteps  he  hath  turned, 

From  wandering  on  a  foreign  strand? 

After  that  he  went  to  South  Africa.  From  1847  to  1854 
he  was  Governor  of  the  Cape,  and  did  great  service  in 
the  fights  against  the  Kaffirs.  He  died  without  children, 
and  the  baronetcy  (which  might  have  been  granted  for 
continuation  through  Colonel  Thomas  Smith,  had  he  not 
declined  it)  became  extinct.  • 

Colonel  Thomas  Smith  had  six  sons  in  the  army  and 
one  in  the  navy,  and  all  but  one  pre-deceased  him;  his 
widow  is  still  living  and  in  good  health. 

Sir  Harry  was  educated  at  a  school  which  formed 
originally  an  eastern  chapel  of  the  south  aisle  of  the  beau- 
tiful church  of  Saint  Mary,  Whittlesey.  This  chapel, 
now  called  the  Smith  Chapel,  was  restored  in  honor  of 
the  hero  of  Aliwal,  and  what  was  the  school  is  now  again 
part  of  the  church  and  adorned  by  three  painted  windows. 
Within  this  church  rest  many  members  of  the  old  family, 
ancestors  of  the  hero  of  forty  battles. 

Many  people  still  live  who  remember  Sir  Harry,  his 
brothers  and  father,  and  cherish  the  memory  of  the  kind- 
liness of  the  three  sons  who  served  their  country  so  well. 
The  names  of  the  three  South  African  towns,  Harrismith, 


298  SHORT  STORIES   OF  THE    WAR. 

Ladysmith,  and  Aliwal,  will  perpetuate  the   fame  of  th(> 
brave  soldier  and  his  good  wife. 

DESCRIPTION    OF    MODDER    RIVER. 

Modder  River,  the  scene  of  Lord  Methuen's  heavy 
fighting,  is  twenty-five  miles  south  of  Kimberley — with  the 
Orange  Free  State  border  about  four  miles  to  the  east. 
There  is  really  no  village,  properly  speaking,  much  less  a 
town,  but  simply  a  district  with  a  few  stock  farms  scat- 
tered around,  a  general  store  for  supplying  the  farmers 
and  Kaffirs,  and  a  couple  of  hotels  and  farms  combined, 
where  some  of  the  residents  of  Kimberley  go  for  change 
of  air  or  for  the  shooting. 

During  the  summer  months  large  picnic  parties,  both 
white  and  colored,  organized  by  the  churches  of  Kimberley, 
sometimes  to  the  number  of  600  or  more,  go  down  for  a 
day's  outing  at  the  river,  "The  Island, "  owned  by  Mr. 
J.  K.  Glover,  being  the  favorite  resort.  Just  where  the 
two  rivers,  the  Riet  and  Modder,  meet,  about  400  yards 
above  the  railway  bridge,  is  this  so-called  "Island."  It 
is  in  reality  not  an  island  but  a  V-shaped  piece  of  land 
formed  by  the  two  rivers,  the  Riet  on  the  south  and  Mod- 
der on  the  north,  and  open  on  the  east  side  to  the  Free 
State.  It  is  here  that  the  Boers  seem  to  have  made  the 
best  stand,  and  certainly  the  position  was  most  favorable 
for  them.  The  steep  banks  of  the  river  on  the  south  side, 
where  the  attack  would  come  from,  are  fairly  well  wooded 
and  covered  with  dense  bush,  and  would  afford  excellent 
cover  for  riflemen,  and  while  it  would  be  impossible  to 
rush  the  position  and  get  in  with  cold  steel,  the  Boers,  if 
they  wished  to  retire,  would  find  the  east  side  quite  open, 
and  by  keeping  along  the  banks  of  the  Modder  River, 
which  is  on  the  north  side,   they  could  keep  out  of  sight 


< 

< 
> 

< 
OS 
H 

bl 

S 
H 

O 
H 

>> 

< 

b] 
H 

•< 
O 

u 


SHORT  STORIES  OF  THE   WAR.  299 

• 
for  two  miles  or   more.      Here    the  river   takes   a    more 
northerly  course,  and  to  gain  the  Free  State  they  would 
have  to  come  into  more  open  veldt. 

The  Modder  River  Railway  Bridge  was  built  quite 
close  to  the  old  wagon  road,  and  the  drift  is  easily  pass- 
able except  during  the  times  when  one  or  both  of  the 
rivers  are  "coming  down,"  which  event  usually  happens 
during  December  and  January — perhaps  four  or  five 
times. 

The  country  round  about  is  quite  flat  for  some  miles, 
and  not  suited  for  the  usual  tactics  of  the  Boers,  but  at 
Spyfontein,  about  halfway  between  the  river  and  Kim- 
berley,  it  gets  more  broken.  Before  the  rinderpest  broke 
out,  the  farmers  in  the  district  raised  a  fine  lot  of  cattle, 
but,  unfortunately,  they  were  nearly  all  swept  away  by 
that  disease — in  fact,  so  scarce  did  draught  oxen  become 
that  the  owners  of  the  KofTyfontein  Diamond  Mine,  who 
used  to  get  their  coal  from  Indwe  forwarded  from  the  sid- 
ing at  Modder  River  by  ox  wagons  to  their  mines  in  the 
Orange  Free  State,  actually  got  out  several  traction 
engines  from  England  to  take  the  place  of  oxen,  and  sent 
them  across  country,  much  to  the  amazement  of  both  the 
Dutch  and  Kaffirs.  The  climate  of  this  part  of  South 
Africa  during  the  winter  months — May  to  September — is 
superb,  beautiful  bright  days  and  cold  frosty  nights,  but 
during  part  of  the  summer — the  rainy  season — for  those 
sleeping  under  canvas,  or  without  even  that,  it  is  very 
trying. 

RAILWAYS    IN    SOUTH    AFRICA. 

The  increasing  competition  of  European  nations  in 
Africa  enforced  demand  for  an  increased  rate  of  railway 
construction  for  the  benefit  of  the  districts  subject  to  the 


300  SHORT  STORIES   OF  THE   WAR. 

nations  concerned,  and  a  project  prominent  in  the  minds  of 
the  French  people  was  the  contemplation  of  a  line  cross- 
ing the  Sahara  desert.  Ostensibly  the  principal  object  of 
the  scheme  is  to  offset  the  projected  "Cape  to  Cairo"  line 
of  the  British,  which  during  the  war  has  appeared  to  be 
in  the  advance  of  long  distance  enterprises  of  the  kind  for 
that  continent.  The  United  States  consul  at  Marseilles, 
France,  forwarded  to  the  Department  of  State  at  Washing- 
ton some  information  bearing  upon  French  feeling,  as 
expressed  by  a  report  of  the  Marseilles  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  which  shows  the  extent  of  railway  develop- 
ment in  Africa  ujp  to  the  present  writing.  The  following 
is  largely  an  abstract  of  the  report,  as  forwarded  in  the 
consular  advices: 

The  report  declares  that  France,  having  laid  hands 
upon  points  1,200  and  1,800  miles  from  the  sea,  must 
establish  a  connection  or  lose  the  fruit  of  her  labor. 
While  reiterating  that  the  doubtful  element  of  future 
profit  must  not  hinder  actual  work,  the  intimation  is  held 
out  that  a  profitable  traffic  can  be  built  up.  The  Belgian 
Kongo  region  is  cited  as  an  example.  The  railway  from 
Stanley  Pool  to  the  sea,  241  miles  long,  was  fully  com- 
pleted in  May,  1898,  and  62  miles  were  in  operation  as 
early  as  1896.  The  total  capital  and  bonds  amount  to 
$12,545,000  and  the  monthly  receipts  are  $193,000. 
The  commercial  movement  increased  from  $3,406,450  in 
this  colony  in  1893  to  $9,746,500  in  1898.  The  principal 
business  is  caoutchouc,  a  product  that  is  firm  in  price  and 
even  advancing,  while  the  general  trend  of  prices  of  other 
products  is  downward.  It  is  contended  that  the  French 
colonies  in  Africa  are  veritable  mines  of  rubber,  and  need 
only  means  of  transportation  to  bring  about  highly  pros- 
perous conditions. 


SHORT  STORIES   OF  THE   WAR.  301 

What  has  been  already  done  and  what  is  projected 
in  the  various  districts  may  be  gleaned  from  the  following 

tabulation : 

Building,  surveyed, 
Districts.                                                   Railway  and  definite- 
completed,  ly  projected. 
Miles.  Miles. 

Tunis- Algeria 2,361  690 

Senegal-Sudan 276  224 

French  Guinea 342 

British   Guinea 35*  163 

Ivory  Coast 280 

Gold  Coast 42  82 

Dahomey 497 

Lagos 43  143 

Belgian    Kongo 249  i, 243 

Portuguese  Kongo 221 

German  West  Africa 72  363 

Cape  Colony 4i35o  * 

Uganda 288  644 

Madagascar ". ' 249 

Total 7,937  4,920 

♦Cairo  to  Cape  project  not  included  in  this  table. 

Besides  the  lines  indicated  on  the  map,  the  following 
have  been  discussed:  From  Suakin,  on  the  Red  Sea,  to 
Berber;  from  Lake  Tchad  to  Fashoda;  from  Loanda,  in 
Portuguese  West  Africa,  to  Lake  Tanganyika;  and  from 
Walfish  Bay  across  German  Southwest  Africa  to  Bulu- 
wayo. 

GUNS    OF   SOLID    GOLD. 

Nothing  was  ever  more  unique  in  warfare  than  the 
offer  Queen  Victoria  received  from  His  Highness,  the 
Gaikwar  of  Baroda,  who  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the 
British  for  use  in  the  Transvaal  his  most  treasured  posses- 
sion,   the  famous   golden  guns,    that  are  a  part  of   the 


302  SHORT  STORIES  OF  THE   WAR. 

Maharajah's  ornamental  artillery.  No  one  would  think 
of  using  guns  made  of  solid  gold  in  actual  warfare,  even 
in  a  land  where  gold  is  picked  up  as  easily  as  iron  is  else- 
where, but  their  offer  for  service  was  taken  as  a  most 
graceful  tribute  to  the  Queen  on  the  part  of  one  who  was 
considered  the  most  powerful  and  influential  of  native 
princes  of  India. 

The  guns  are  in  reality  one  of  the  world's  curiosities, 
for  they  are  the  only  solid  gold  guns  in  existence.  They 
were  the  product  of  a  native  blacksmith's  skill  and  labor 
and  were  made  in  1874,  the  time  consumed  in  the  work 
being  no  less  than  five  years.  Each  gun  weighs  400 
pounds  and  is  made  of  pure  gold,  with  the  exception  of 
the  inner  coat,  which  is  of  silver.  The  design  of  the 
guns  is  most  novel,  and  the  carriages  are  made  of  expen- 
sive wood,  cunningly  inlaid  with  silver  and  carved  by  the 
skillful  workmen  of  Baroda  in  their  characteristic  style. 

It  is  not  in  the  guns  alone,  however.,  that  the  Hindoo 
potentate  has  shown  his  taste  for  expensive  ornamenta- 
tion. The  entire  outfit  is  on  a  most  sumptuous  scale,  the 
carriage  being  drawn  by  the  finest  bullocks  that  the 
Maharajah's  territory  produces  and  the  trappings  of  the 
animals  of  the  most  splendid  order. 

Some  idea  of  the  magnificence  of  the  apparel  that 
bedecks  this  golden  artillery  team  on  spectacular  occa- 
sions may  be  gathered  from  the  statement  that  their  best 
trappings  cost  the  Gaikwar  $45,000.  On  the  horns  of 
the  animals  are  golden  caps,  and  on  the  legs  are  worn 
anklets  of  gold  and  silver.  Each  head  is  a  flashing 
mass  of  gold  and  silver  ornamentation,  and  when  the 
guns  are  polished  and  the  bullocks  are  in  their  state  attire 
the  sight  is  a  dazzling  one. 

The  guns  have  never  been  fired,  so  far  as  is  known, 


SHORT  STORIES   OF  THE    WAR.  303 

so  that  the  effect  of  a  practical  use  of  gunpowder  on  such 
soft-metal  ordinance  is  not  known.  It  is  not  probable 
that  they  would  stand  real  use.  It  is  not  meant  that 
they  should.  They  are  intended  for  display  alone,  and 
in  this  they  do  full  justice  to  their  designer.  As  may  be 
imagined,  the  possession  of  these  gold  guns  makes  the 
Maharajah  the  envy  of  all  the  other  native  princes,  and  it 
may  be  the  pride  that  he  feels  in  his  unique  artillery 
more  than  his  regard  for  the  British  nation  that  prompted 
him  to  offer  the  guns  to  the  Queen. 

The  guns  are  seldom  allowed  to  be  taken  far  from  the 
Maharajah's  palace.  They  are  guarded  day  and  night 
by  picked  men  of  the  royal  bodyguard,  a  splendid  corps, 
equipped  after  the  European  manner  and  officered  chiefly 
by  white  men.  They  wear  a  uniform  very  much  like  that 
of  the  Austrian  Hussars,  are  150  strong  and  are  mounted 
on  the  finest  cavalry  chargers  in  the  Indian  empire. 
Only  one  occasion  is  recorded  where  the  Maharajah 
allowed  the  guns  to  be  taken  from  the  Mazabagh  palace 
at  Baroda,  where  they  are  kept.  This  was  when  His 
Highness  visited  Bombay  to  meet  the  Prince  of  Wales. 
Then  the  guns  accompanied  him  as  being  the  most 
remarkable  possession  of  the  State  of  Baroda,  apart  from 
the  Maharajah  himself,  and  it  is  due  to  the  latter's  judg- 
ment to  say  that  they  attracted  far  more  notice  from  the 
royal  English  visitors  than  anything  belonging  to  the 
Gaikwar's  train. 

Besides  the  golden  guns,  the  Maharajah  owns  a  pair 
of  silver  guns  of  the  same  style  as  the  others,  but  smaller, 
weighing  only  320  pounds  each.  The  limbers  and  car- 
riages of  these  guns  are  brass-covered,  and  when  this 
metal  is  pohshed  it  is  just  as  much  a  sight  to  see  as  the 
gold  guns. 


304  SHORT  STORIES   OF   THE    WAR      »  . 

HOW  LORD  ROBERTS  HEARD  OF  HIS  SON  S  DEATH. 

Here  is  the  story  of  how  Lord  Roberts  heard  of  the 
death  of  his  only  son,  Lieutenant  Roberts,  whom  he 
adored: 

"In  the  Senior  Service  Club,  of  which  Lord  Roberts 
is  a  member,  a  group  was  standing  about  the  ticker  read- 
ing the  list  of  casualties  at  Colenso.  The  group  had  not 
observed  Lord  Roberts,  who  was  standing  close  behind. 
All  at  once  one  said:   '  Great  God,  Bobs'  son  is  killed!' 

"An  exclamation  was  heard  from  behind.  Turning 
round,  the  group  made  way,  and  Lord  Roberts  advanced 
and  read  the  fatal  news.  He  said  not  a  word,  but,  turn- 
ing sharply  round,  silently  left  the  club  to  break  the  news 
as  gently  as  possible  to  his  wife  and  daughter,  who  were 
waiting  anxiously  at  home.  His  greatest  fear  was  lest  it 
should  be  conveyed  to  them  in  some  brutal,  sudden  man- 
ner— for  instance,  by  the  blatant  cries  which  later  must 
have  echoed  terribly  in  their  ears  throughout  the  evening. 

"' Poor  Bobs, '  was  all  his  fellow-clubmen  could  say. 
Most  of  them  were  retired  officers,  but  their  looks  were 
full  of  pity  and  every  heart  was  flowing  with  sympathy 
toward  the  genial,  kind-hearted,  modest  '  Bobs, '  whose 
greatest  pride  was  just  that  very  son." 

CARRYING    HIS    COLONEL. 

Trooper  Clifford  Turpin,  of  the  Imperial  Light  Horse, 
at  Ladysmith  distinguished  himself  for  bravery  in  the 
field  at  the  battle  of  Elandslaagte.  The  colonel  was  shot 
in  the  body,  and  Trooper  Turpin  caught  him  in  his  arms 
and  was  carrying  him  away  to  a  place  of  safety  when  the 
poor  colonel  received  a  bullet  through  his  brain  while  in 
Turpin's  arms.  He  put  the  body  down  and  rushed  on  in 
the  fight,  and  he  and  one  of  the  Gordon  Highlanders  were 


SHORT  STORIES  OF  THE   WAR.  305 

the  first  to  get  in  the  Boer  laager  and  took  it.  For  his 
bravery  he  has  been  promoted  to  sergeant,  and  his  name 
is  to  be  mentioned  in  dispatches. 

A    HEROIC    TROOPER. 

Trooper  Strauss,  of  the  Border  Mounted  Rifles,  was 
hit  three  times  by  Boer  bullets,  chafed  under  his  enforced 
incarceration,  and  one  night,  eluding  the  vigilance  of  his 
nurses,  he  escaped  from  the  hospital,  obtained  a  rifle, 
begged  ammunition  from  other  patients,  filled  his  bando- 
lier, and  sallied  out  to  rejoin  his  regiment.  Physically, 
however,  he  was  not  in  a  fit  condition  to  endure  the 
fatigue,  and  before  he  had  gone  far  he  was  overtaken  and 
brought  back  to  the  hospital.  Strauss  is  a  German  resi- 
dent in  Natal. 

TOMMY    ATKINS'  KIT. 

In  recent  years  every  item  of  the  soldier's  kit  has  been 
made  the  subject  of  an  immense  amount  of  thought  and 
experimental  ingenuity  directed  to  the  securing  of  the 
utmost  possible  usefulness  combined  with  the  minimum  of 
bulk  and  weight  and  strength.  There  is  the  "mess  tin," 
for  instance,  that  used  to  weigh  a  good  deal  more  than  the 
rations  enclosed  in  it,  and  was  little  more  than  a  recep- 
tacle for  the  food,  but  has  become  a  wonderfully  light 
and  compact  little  compendium  of  a  well-equipped 
kitchen.  It  is  externally  a  little  round  or  "  D  "-shaped 
metal  box — "  D"-shaped  for  infantry,  round  for  cavalry. 
You  take  off  the  lid,  and  you  find  yourself  at  once  pro- 
vided with  a  dinner  plate — small,  certainly;  but  then, 
as  Tommy  himself  wisely  observes,  "it  don't  so  much 
matter  about  your  plate  being  a  bit  small  so  long 
as    you    can    fill    it    often    enough."      You    lift    out    a 


3o6  SHORT  STORIES  OF  THE   WAR. 

m 

little  tray  and  unfold  a  handle,  and  lo!  and  behold  you 
have  got  a  really  serviceable  little  frying-pan,  and  the 
mess-tin  itself  may  be  used  either  for  holding  water  or 
for  boiling  food.  A  full  description  of  a  soldier's  kit  is 
a  literary  achievement  not  lightly  to  be  undertaken.  An 
official  list  of  the  bare  necessaries  for  some  or  other  of 
the  various  branches  of  the  service  presents  between 
fifty  and  sixty  items.  These  are  not  to  be  understood 
to  include  all  that  a  soldier  needs.  Clothing,  of  course, 
is  quite  another  matter,  and  "equipments, "  also,  are  not 
among  the  items  of  the  ' '  kit. "  A  water-bottle,  for 
instance,  is  not  included  in  kit,  nor  is  the  valise  itself 
in  which  kit  is  carried.  The  distinction  between  kit  and 
clothing  or  equipment  is  just  this:  Clothing  and  equip- 
•  ment  include  personal  supplies  which  government  deals 
out  and  renews  from  time  to  time.  Kit  includes  a  large 
number  of  items  which  at  the  outset  are  provided  free, 
but  have  to  be  renewed  by  the  soldier  himself.  Thus, 
for  instance,  Tommy  gets  one  set  of  boot  brushes  when 
he  enters  the  service,  but  he  will  have  to  make  them 
serve  as  long  as  he  is  with  his  regiment,  or  provide 
others  himself.  Similarly  he  gets  one  pair  of  bootlaces, 
one  tin  of  blacking,  one  piece  of  soap,  and  when  they  are 
gone  he  must  find  others  for  himself.  Brushes  are  the 
things  most  generally  in  request.  Under  this  heading  we 
find  "blacking, "  "brass,"  "cloth,"  "hair, "  "hard, "  "lace," 
"polishing,"  "shaving."  A  tooth  brush  is  a  luxury  not 
as  yet  recognized  by  the  British  army.  Badges  and  bags, 
blacking  and  bootlaces,  brushes  and  button  brasses,  plume 
cases  and  hair  combs,  gaiters  and  garters,  knives  and 
mitts  and  polishing  powder,  and  so  on  through  a  list  re- 
quiring most  of  the  letters  of  the  alphabet — these  are  the 
details  of  Tommy's  kit.     Boots  he  can  get  repaired  by 


SHORT  STORIES  OF  THE    WAR.  ^og 

the  regimental  shoemaker,  but  his  tailoring  and  his  sock- 
darning  and  needlecraft  generally  Tommy  Atkins  has  to 
do  for  himself,  and  in  his  valise  he  carries  with  him  a 
"house-wife" — a  strip  of  flannel  or  cloth,  or  something  of 
the  kind  made  up  to  contain  a  lot  of  useful  things — a 
couple  of  dozen  buttons,  a  thimble,  some  worsted  needles, 
sewing  needles,  two  balls  of  worsted,  and  an  ounce  and  a 
half  of  thread  in  three  colors — black,  white  and  red.  The 
British  warrior,  laying  aside  spear  and  buckler  and 
patiently  repairing  the  ravages  of  time  and  the  wear  and 
tear  of  long  marches  on  his  only  pair  of  socks,  is  an  inter- 
esting sight,  more  especially  if  he  brings  to  the  task  fingers 
that  have  been  well  trained  at  the  plough-tail  or  at  the 
blacksmith's  anvil. 

A  doctor's  prisoners. 

The  Rev.  A.  A.  J.  Andrews,  honorary  chaplain  to  the 
Natal  Mounted  Rifles,  writing  to  his  father,  the  Rev.  J. 
Andrews,  Woburn,  Bedfordshire,  describes  the  scene  after 
the  battle  of  Elandslaagte: 

"After  the  battle  Dr.  Bonnybrook  and  I  spent  the 
night  on  the  field  of  battle,  and  also  followed  the  retreat- 
ing Boers  for  seven  miles,  searching  for  and  tending  the 
wounded  and  dying.  Early  in  the  morning  we  came  to  a 
Boer  field  hospital,  and  shouting  out  '  Doctor  and  Predi- 
cant '  we  entered  and  rested,  and  slept  there  a  while.  By 
daybreak  we  were  out  again,  and  when  about  six  miles 
from  camp.  Dr.  Bonnybrook  rode  up  to  twenty-five 
mounted  and  armed  Boers,  and  told  them  they  were  his 
prisoners.  Ordering  two  to  take  the  weapons  from  their 
comrades,  he  marched  them  into  camp  prisoners.  For 
an  unarmed  man  to  accomplish  alone,  this  was  an  exceed- 
ingly brave  thing.     After  the   battle  one  of  the  captured 

i8 


310  SHORT  STORIES   OF   THE    WAR. 

held  up   his  gun  and  said,   '  Look  through  this.      I  have 
not  fired  a  shot.      I  am  a  Britisher. 

BOERS'    KINDNESS    TO    PRISONERS. 

Second-Lieutenant  C.  E.  Kinahan,  of  the  Royal 
Irish  Fusiliers,  writing  to  his  father,  Mr.  G.  P.  Kina- 
han, Bagshott,  from  Staatsmodel  Schule,  Pretoria,  says: 
' '  While  we  were  in  their  laager  the  Boers  treated 
us  extremely  well,  and  gave  us  food  and  tobacco.  All 
you  read  about  the  Boers  in  England  is  absolutely 
untrue.  They  are  most  kind  to  the  wounded  and  prison- 
ers, looking  after  them  as  well  as  their  own  wounded,  and 
anything  they've  got  they  will  give  you  if  you  ask  them, 
even  if  they  deprive  themselves.  We  came  up  to  Preto- 
ria in  first-class  sleeping  carriages,  and  the  way  they 
treated  us  was  most  considerate,  feeding  us  and  giving  us 
coffee  every  time  we  stopped.  The  day  we  arrived  we 
took  up  quarters  on  the  race-course,  but  we  have  been 
moved  into  a  fine  brick  building  with  baths,  electric  lights,- 
etc.  They  provide  us  with  everything,  from  clothes  down 
to  tooth  brushes.  They  also  feed  us,  and  we  are  con- 
stantly getting  presents  of  vegetables  and  cigars  fron 
private  people.  In  fact,  we  "can  have  everything  we  like 
except  our  liberty;  for  some  reason  or  other  they  won't  at 
present  give  us  parole,  and  we  are  surrounded  by  sentries. 
There  are  close  upon  fifty  officers  in  this  building  and 
they  have  got  any  amount  of  wounded  ones  in  different 
places.  They  say  they  wont  exchange  the  officers  at  any 
price. " 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 
PATRIOTISM   VERSUS  AMBITION. 

Rev.     Dr.    Meiring,     President    Kruger's    Pastor,    Talpe    up    the    Rifle    in 
Defense  of  his  Country — The  Ambition  of  Cecil  Rhodes  a  Contrast. 

FROM    PULPIT   TO    BATTLE-FIELD. 

EV.   P.   G.  J.   MEIRING,   D.D.,  who  for  years 

was  President  Kruger's  pastor  in  the  Transvaal 
RepubHc,  was  in  the  United  States  for  some 
time  previous  to  the  beginning  of  hostihties  in 
South  Africa.  He  returned  to  Africa  to  shoulder  a  rifle 
and  aid  his  countrymen  in  the  struggle  with  England. 

His  remarks  on  the  Boer-British  war  will  be  of  great 
interest  to  the  general  reader.  Before  leaving,  and  in 
speaking  of  affairs  in  South  Africa,  he  said: 

' '  I  am  going  home  to  fight.     To  fight  for  my  country. 

*'  I  am  the  pastor  under  whom  President  Paul  Kruger, 
of  the  Transvaal  Republic,  has  sat  for  years.  I  have 
taught  him  and  he  has  taught  me.  This  great  and  good 
man  has  known  for  years  that  the  country  was  oppressed, 
and  my  texts  have  been  upon  the  burden  borne  by  the 
weary  and  the  succor  which  the  Lord  would  send. 

' '  The  Transvaal  Republic,  more  than  any  other 
country,  has  been  grossly  misrepresented.  This  Is  more 
to  be  attributed  to  ignorance  than  to  willful  desire  to 
wrong  a  people. 

' '  The    term    Boer,    for   instance,    is   incorrect.     The 

311 


312  PATRIOTISM  VERSUS  AMBITION. 

word  Boer  applies  only  to  the  farmer.  The  correct  name 
of  the  people  of  the  Transvaal  Repu-blic  is  'Afrikanders. ' 
This  signifies  all  the  cultured  people,  black  and  white,  of 
the  Republic;  all  the  citizens,  all  the  people  whose  home 
is  there;  all  those  who  dwell  in  the  towns  and  who  are 
-the  financial  support  of  the  Republic.  These  are  *  Afri- 
kanders.' The  word  Boer  means  countryman,  and  it 
would  be  just  ^  correct  to  speak  of  a  nation  of  Boers 
signifying  the  South  African  Republic,  as  a  nation  of 
countrymen  signifying  the  United  States. 

"We  are  the  descendants  of  the  first  Dutch  settlers 
who  landed  on  •  the  most  southerly  point  of  Africa  in 
1652,  and  the  French  Huguenots,  who  were  driven  from 
France  by  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes  in  1685, 
and  sought  refuge  in  Holland  and  ultimately  went  to 
South  Africa. 

' '  We  hold  Cape  Colony,  the  Orange  Free  State, 
Natal  and  the  Transvaal.  The  Orange  Free  State  and 
Transvaal  are  Republics;  while  the  other  two  are 
British  territory.  We  stand  together  as  one  people. 
We  are  one  as  regards  our  future,  and  what  affects 
one  affects  all.  In  1806  when  war  between  Hol- 
land and  England  took  place,,  we  were  ruled  by  the 
British,  and  we  would  not  have  interfered  had  we  been 
governed  wisely.  Our  rulers,  however,  simply  gave  us 
military  government,  and  forgetful  of  the  rights  of  the 
people  at  large  sought  to  glorify  themselves.  They  made 
no  attempt  to  advance  our  interests. 

"The  most  awful  thing  in  our  history  was  the  Jame- 
son raid  in  1895.  This  raid  was  planned  by  Cecil  Rhodes, 
who  was  directly  responsible  for  it.  It  was  a  plot  hatched 
in  England  to  foment  strife  between  the  two  govern- 
ments.    England    and    the    Transvaal    were    then  fairly 


PATRIOTISM    VERSUS  AMBITION.  313 

peaceful,   but  the  Jameson  raid  was  the  beginning  of  a 
•war.      Fortunately  the  people  of  the  Transvaal  were  leni- 
ent, and  they  hesitated  about  punishing  the  offenders  as 
severely  as  they  should  have  been  punished. 

' '  At  the  close  of  the  Jameson  raid,  when  Jameson 
was  in  prison,  you  will  remember  that  he  was  pardoned.  « 
This  should  never  have  been  done.  Jameson  should 
have  been  hung.  But  the  British  condoned  his  offense 
and  Jameson  was  reinstated  and  was  rnade  a  hero  instead 
of  a  traitor  and  a  knave. 

"  The  Afrikanders  have  had  a  great  deal  of  trouble 
in  their  history.  Weak  in  numbers,  yet  so  thrifty  in 
disposition  that  they  accumulated  wealth  wherever  they 
were,  driven  from  place  to  place  by  the  British,  they  were 
naturally  the  target  of  the  greedy  Britisher.  They  owned 
Cape  Colony,  but  the  British  claimed  it,  and  the  Afri- 
kanders left  it. 

"The  Zulus  owned  Natal,  and  the  Afrikanders  bought 
it  of  them.  They  bought  it  for  so  many  head  of  cattle. 
They  also  fought  the  Zulus  and  came  into  possession  of 
Natal  by  blood  and  money,  so  it  was  theirs.  But  the 
British  wanted  Natal  and  they  got  it. 

"The  treaty  concerning  the  transfer  of  land  was 
drawn  up  by  an  American  missionary  named  Omans. 

' '  We  felt  the  country  was  ours  by  the  purchase  of 
cattle  and  blood.  In  1842  the  English  entered  Natal, 
raised  the  union  jack,  and  said,  '  This  is  ours.'  The 
Afrikander  submitted  to  the  edict  and  moved  to  the 
Orange  Free  State,  only  to  be  again  followed  by  Eng- 
land, who  laid  claim  to  the  territory.  We  moved  with- 
out a  murmur  over  the  River  Vaal  and  made  settlements, 
when  yet  again  England  claimed  that  territory.  It  was 
then   we  said    'No!'  and    had  recourse    to   arms,    which 


314  PATRIOTISM  VERSUS  AMBITION. 

resulted  in  the  defeat  of  the  EngHsh  at  Majuba  Hill  and 
the  ultimate  triumph  of  the  Afrikander  forces. 

"The    Transvaal      government    soon    realized    that 
their  country,  on  account  of  its  valuable  mining  proper- 
ties, would  be  overrun  by  foreigners,  and  devised  means 
•  whereby  the  newcomers  should  not  be  made  citizens  until 
they  had  made  themselves  worthy. 

"This  created  two  great  political  parties  in  the  Trans- 
vaal, one  headed  by  Kruger,  the  present  President,  and  the 
other,  the  progressive,  by  General  Joubert.  The  latter 
had  for  its  central  idea  the  modification  of  the  restric- 
tions surrounding  the  admission  to  citizenship,  and  in  the 
last  Parliament  it  carried  the  day.  It  was  soon  seen, 
however,  that  such  radical  laws  as  were  contemplated 
would  mean  the  overthrow  of  the  Republic. 

"Mr.  Chamberlain,  the  British  Colonial  Minister, 
hatched  the  present  trouble,  and  England  cannot  but  be 
cognizant  of  the  fact.  True,  there  was  an  education 
grievance. 

"  Outlanders  were  unable  to  educate  their  children 
elsewhere  than  in  Dutch  schools,  but  the  law  of  1896  pro- 
vided for  English  schools  wherever  needed.  The  Out- 
landers do  not  pay  90  per  cent,  of  the  taxes  alleged. 
It  is  true  there  is  a  poll  tax  of  $5  a  head  and  an  indi- 
rect tax  on  importations,  which  simply  amounts  to  a 
custom  duty. 

"It  is  also  true  that  we  tax  mining  materials,  but 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  huge  dividends  are  earned,  we 
feel  justified  in  so  doing.  The  dividends  vary  from  67 
per  cent,  to  300  per  cent.  The  owners  of  the  mines  are 
fully  protected,  so  why  should  they  not  be  taxed  ? 

"It  is  wrong  to  believe  that  our  leaders  in  the  pres- 
ent war  are  all  of  Dutch  extraction.     Many  of  them  are 


PATRIOTISM   VERSUS  AMBITION.  315 

not.  We  have  leaders  named  respectively  Hancock, 
Quinn,  Watkins,  and  Lovejoy,  also  many  of  German, 
French  and  other  nationalities,  so  you  see  that  in  this 
fight  we  are  not  all  Dutch.  Many  of  our  leaders  are 
native  born,  but  there  are  just  as  many  who  were  born 
under  other  flags.  The  world  has  been  grossly  misled 
by  evil  reports  regarding  our  country.  The  facts  in  our 
case  should  not  be  misrepresented. 

"  It  hardly  seems  possible  that  England  is  opposing 
us.  She  seems  like  another  nation — not  like  the  Eng- 
land we  have  known.  If  she  still  persists  in  her  unholy 
warfare,  she  may  see  that  God  still  reigns.  He  alone 
can  give  grace  to  His  people,  and  bestow  upon  them 
the  victory.  Pray  for  us,  pray  that  England  may  stay 
her  hand  and  not  permit  this  blot  to  sully  her  fair  name. 
Pray  God  that  He  may  give  us  peace,  or  if  not,  that  He 
may  raise  friends  for  us,  so  that  we  may  remain  in  pos- 
session of  our  homes  and  lands  purchased  at  so  great  a 
price. " 

Dr.  Meiring,  since,  has  been  fighting  and  preaching; 
fighting  when  fighting  was  to  be  done,  a4id  preaching  to 
his  fellow-countrymen  before  and  after  battle. 

He  was  at  the  battle  of  the  Tugela,  where  Buller 
was  so  severely  defeated,  and  he  is  still  with  the  forces 
of  General  Joubert. 

As  a  contrast  let  us  look  at  Cecil  Rhodes,  a  min- 
ister's son,  from  an  American  point  of  view. 

THE    MAN    WHO    WOULD    BE    KING. 

It  will  be  interesting  to  recall  the  expressions  of 
opinion  that  appeared  in  the  Press  of  this  country  after 
the  outrageous  Jameson    Raid    in   1895.     The  following 


3i6  PATRIOTISM  VERSUS  AMBITION. 

editorial    from     the     Springfield    Republican    is    almost 
prophetic: 

' '  The  future  of  Cecil  Rhodes  is  a  fertile  matter  for 
speculation.  It  seems  certain  that  he  is  to  escape  the 
dock  and  the  felon's  cell,  which  he  deserved -quite  as 
thoroughly  as  his  accomplice,  Dr.  Jameson.^  But  what  of 
his  career?  Is  he  indeed  a  broken  man,  retired  hope- 
lessly and  forever  from  his  large  schemes  of  Empire 
building?  Or  are  these  official  frowns  only  a  sop  to  the 
radicals,  and  will  Rhodes  merely  remain  under  the  cloud 
until  the  storm  passes  over,  to  be  rewarded  when  he  can 
again  be  useful  to  the  imperialists?  It  is  at  least  a 
wholesome  symptom  that  as  soon  as  the  English  people 
understood  the  case — as  soon  as  they  realized  that  Jame- 
son's freebooting  trip  was  not  a  rescue  party  to  save  help- 
less women  and  children,  not  a  self-sacrificing  venture  in 
behalf  of  the  political  rights  of  the  Outlanders,  not  a 
daring  raid  in  search  of  documents  to  prove  an  illegal 
correspondence  between  Kruger  and  Germany — but,  on 
the  contrary,  a  most  flagrant  and  shameful  invasion  of  a 
friendly  country,  coupled  with  an  ignominious  defeat  to 
rub  in  the  shame  more  deeply — that  as  soon  as  they 
saw  this,  the  English  people  rose  in  their  might  and 
declared  the  thing  an  infamy. 

"This  spirit  is  a  comparatively  new  thing  in  Eng- 
land. The  people  at  large  have  rarely  inquired  into  the 
rights  and  wrongs  of  quarrels.  'England  expects  every 
man  to  do  his  duty'  was  a  sufficient  warrant  for  butcher- 
ing white  men  or  black  who  stood-  in  the  path  of  terri- 
torial expansion.  With  this  bull-dog  patriotism  behind 
it,  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  Administration  has  been  able 
to  make  England  the  challenger  of  the  world.  But  there 
i?  a  change.     We  suspect  that  it  lie?  jn  the  growth  of  the 


PATRIOTISM   VERSUS  AMBITION.  317 

habit  of  independent  thinking.  How  quickly  sentiment 
changed  as  soon  as  the  facts  in  the  Venezuelan  case 
leaked  out  from  the  archives  of  officialdom !  It  is  proba- 
ble that  if  there  had  been  so  widespread  a  spirit  of  inde- 
pendent inquiry  before  1776,  no  Ministry  could  have 
forced  a  war  with  the  colonies,  and  England  would  now 
be  spreading  her  vast  domain  over  the  whole  continent 
of  North  America,  with  small  need  for  snatching  at  stray 
fragments  of  South  Africa. 

' '  It  can  hardly  be  questioned  that  the  British  people 
at  large  feel  that  Rhodes  is  an  anachronism.  He  belongs 
back  in  the  time  of  Tanburlaine  or  Alaric,  or  at  the  very 
least,  of  those  magnificent  Elizabethan  buccaneers  whf) 
lived  in  an  age  when  gold  was  to  be  had,  if  not  for  the 
asking,  at  least  for  the  killing,  and  no  one  troubled  to  ask 
where  it  came  from.  His  friends  point  out  that  he  has 
done  more  than  any  man  of  his  time  for  the  aggrandize- 
ment of  England.  But  we  have  at  least  reached  a  stage 
of  enlightenment  when  such  aggrandizement  is  called 
robbery,  murder,  and  other  unpleasant  names.  They 
say  that  he  is  temperate,  frugal,  and  unostentatious.  So 
(as  Julius  Caesar  observes  in  the  play)  are  most  dan- 
gerous men.  That  he  spends  his  money  not  on  himself, 
but  on  his  Empire.  But  that  only  marks  his  ambition  as 
the  vaster  and  the  more  alarming.  If  he  were  a  common 
robber,  intent  only  on  filling  his  private  purse,  he  would 
not  be  half  so  dangerous.  For  the  sake  of  the  peace  of 
the  world  let  us  hope  that  he  has  indeed  fallen  like 
Lucifer,  never  to  rise  again. 

"Those  who  have  watched  the  deadly  duel  between 
the  two  colossal  men  of  Africa  since  it  began  twelve  years 
ago,  will  be  specially  anxious  to  know  whether  this  is 
indeed  the  end,  whether  Rhodes  i§  unhprsed  for  good. 


3i8  PATRIOTISM  VERSUS  AMBITION. 

The  struggle  began  with  a  sharp  coup  in  Rhodes'  favor, 
and  the  younger  and  more  aggressive  man  scored  twice  to 
Kruger's  once  till  fortune  put  all  the  cards  in  the  wily 
Dutchman's  hand.  Then  no  man  living  could  have 
played  them  better.  Blow  followed  blow,  and  not  a 
false  move  was  made  till  England  was  practically  forced 
to  depose  the  man  who  would  be  king.  It  is  probable 
that  nothing  but  the  danger  of  bringing  too  many  scan- 
dals to  Hght  saved  him  from  a  criminal  trial.  The  folly 
of  supposing  that  Jameson  alone  was  responsible  for  the 
imbecile  filibustering  trip  is  equaled  only  by  the  folly  of 
thinking  that  Cecil  Rhodes  was  behind  it.  The  ramifica- 
tions of  the  plot  are  wide  and  deep,  and  there  is  no 
excuse  for  not  annulling  the  charter  of  the  company 
immediately. 

"There  is  one  blot  on  the  great  Empire-maker's 
record  which  will  go  far  to  ke^p  him  from  being  a  popular 
idol  at  home.  The  British,  in  theory  at  least,  love  fair 
play,  and  what  sort  of  fair  play  was  it  for  Rhodes  to 
slink  behind  the  shelter  of  a  subordinate?  There  is. 
much  more  of  the  heroic  in  the  crack-brained  Jameson 
than  in  his  wily  and  long-headed  chief.  There  was  some- 
thing really  fine  in  the  way  '  Dr.  Jim '  took  the  whole 
blame  on  his  shoulders,  saying  that  his  associates  were 
'only  guilty  of  loyal  obedience  to  orders  which  they 
thought  he  had  a  right  to  issue, '  and  giving  no  hint  that 
he,  too,  had  had  orders  from  a  superior.  And  that  supe- 
rior was  adding  hypocrisy  to  cowardice  by  the  claim  that 
any  statement  on  his  part  would  be  prejudicial  to  Dr. 
Jameson's  case!  In  the  light  of  the  cypher  telegrams 
the  full  contemptibleness  of  this  is  manifest. 

"The  Chartered  Company  should  be  given  full  credit 
for  the  good  it  has  done.     It  has  warred  with  the  liquor 


PATRIOTISM   VERSUS  AMBITION.  319 

traffic,  it  has  helped  to  put  down  the  slave  trade,  it  has 
governed  not  unfairly  when  it  had  conquered  a  place. 
But  it  has  betrayed  its  trust;  it  has  been  deeply  impli- 
cated in  a  wicked  invasion  of  a  neighbor's  territory,  and 
its  privileges  should  be  taken  away.  The  very  system  is 
an  anachronism ;  it  is  not  right  in  these  days  to  turn  c^er 
to  a  corporation  the  power  of  life  and  death,  of  conquer- 
ing the  countries  and  levying  war,  of  filling  private  purses 
from  the  spoils  of  kingdoms. " 

When  we  review  the  action  of  -the  British  Government 
in  relation  to  the  Jameson  raid,  there  is  little  wonder  that 
universal  public  opinion  is  against  England  to-day,  and 
the  "great  truth  "  will  bear  repeating  here  very  appropri- 
ately, that,  "The  World's  History  is  the  World's  Judg- 
ment." 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 
•  THE  RETREAT  OF  AN  ARMY. 

How  General  Duller  Retired  to  Chieveley  Camp  after  the  Battle  of  Colenso— r 
Dusty  March  during  an  Eclipse. 

OLLOWING  the  battle  at  Colenso  came  the 
retreat  of  General  Buller's  army  from  the 
battle-field  to  Chieveley  for  a  part  of  the  army 
and  to  Frere  for  another  part.  Although  the 
notice  to  the  correspondents  specified  four  o'clock  as  the 
hour  at  which  the  camp  would  move,  the  greater  part 
of  the  troops,  supply  train,  ammunition  column  and 
engineers'  outfit,  began  to  ' '  trek"  before  midnight  Satur- 
day, December  i6. 

It  was  a  weird  scene  when  the  camp  began  its  march. 
The  full  moon  was  so  bright  that  we  were  able  to  read 
fine  print  by  its  light  alone.  There  was  almost  no  wind, 
and  the  extraordinary  clearness  of  the  atmosphere 
enabled  us  to  see  objects  on  the  crests  of  the  adjacent  hills 
nearly  as  plainly  as  in  the  daytime.  Details  were  lacking, 
,but  outlines  were  easily  distinguishable.  As  successive 
bodies  of  mounted  men,  artillery  and  infantry,  came  over 
the  ridges  to  the  northward,  we  could  instantly  identify 
their  characteristics,  and  it  seemed  impossible  that  the 
Boers,  who  were  little  farther  away  to  the  northward  than 
we  were  to  the  southward,  could  have  been  ignorant  of 
what  their  enemies  were  doing.  When  a  battery  ponder- 
pusly  moved  obliquely  across  the  range  a  mile  and  a  half 

32Q 


THE  RETREAT  OF  AN  ARMY.  321 

away,  the  horses  and  men  seemed  to  be  automata,  moving 
hke  the  set  scenes  of  a  theater,  for  I  could  distinguish 
their  general  outlines,  the  divisions  between  the  guns  and 
caissons  and  the  direction  in  which  they  were  going;  but 
the  moonlight  was  not  strong  enough  to  show  at  that  dis- 
tance the  motion  of  the  horses'  legs  or  the  revolution  of 
the  wheels,  and,  therefore,  it  appeared  as  though  some 
force  behind  the  ridge  was  pushing  the  mass  along,  as  a 
child  moves  blocks  of  toy  soldiers  across  the  floor. 

The  length  of  time  in  which  observations  of  this  kind 
were  possible  was  short,  however.  No  sooner  had  the 
advance  guard  of  the  retreating  forces  approached  our 
camp  than  the  dust  arose  in  such  volumes  as  to  shut  out 
of  sight  objects  100  yards  away.  The  heavy  carts  con- 
taining supplies  and  ammunition  had  to  follow  a  certain 
road,  and  the  continuous  rumbling  of  wheels,  creaking  of 
axles,  cracking  of  whips  and  hoarse  shouting  of  the 
Kaffirs  to  the  mules  and  oxen  came  to  me  out  of  a  cloud 
of  dust  into  which  the  eye  could  not  penetrate  far.  At 
intervals  would  appear  on  the  veldt  columns  of  cavalry  or 
infantry  marching  alongside  the  general  road,  and  they 
would  sweep  through  our  camp  silently,  parting  here  and 
there  to  pass  our  carts  and  horses,  and  then  disappearing 
beyond  us  as  noiselessly  as  they  had  come  into  view. 
There  was  no  mistaking  the  feeling  of  the  men.  They 
were  retiring  from  a  position  where  they  had  lost*  heavily 
in  men  and  guns.  They  had  been  defeated  and  they 
knew  it.  I  feel  sure  that,  if  the  Boers  had  followed  up 
their  victory  by  moving  out  at  once  upon  the  British 
army — as  a  continental  force  would  have  done — the  retreat 
that  night  would  have  been  a  rout. 

I  do  not  understand  the  pluck  of  the  British  soldiers 
and  their  officers.     Nothing  could  have  been  finer  than 


322  THE  RETREAT  OF  AN  ARMY. 

the.  way  in  which  they  responded  to  the  unreasonable 
demands  made  upon  them  on  that  fatal  Friday.  With 
no  previous  clearing  of  the  way  by  artillery,  the  infantry 
and  the  mounted  men  walked  slowly  into  the  range  of  guns 
of  all  kinds,  never  halting  and  never  changing  their  delib- 
erate gait  until  a  few  groups  reached  a  point  near  enough 
to  the  enemy's  trenches  to  make  a  charge.  ''At  no  time 
did  they  flinch  from  punishment,  even  when  they  knew 
they  could  not  reply  to  the  fire  of  the  Boers  with  any  hope 
of  doing  them  material  injury.  When  the  Dublins  found 
the  river  in  front  of  them,  at  a  point  where  the  opposite 
bank  was  lined  with  Boer  rifles,  they  rushed  across  to  do 
whatever  might  be  possible  in  such  a  situation.  Similarly, 
when  the  Devons  had  carried  the  first  line  of  trenches  on 
the  right  of  the  railway,  and  were  there  left  by  the  retire- 
ment of  the  remainder  of  the  British  force,  their  command- 
ing officer.  Col.  Bullock,  though  surrounded  by  only  fifteen 
or  twenty  of  his  own  men,  cried  out  to  the  advancing 
swarm  of  Boers,    "  No  surrender,"  and  continued  to  fire. 

The  Boers  lost  three  or  four  killed,  yet  they  did  not 
reply  to  Col.  Bullock's  men  by  a  rifle  volley  that  would 
have  killed  them  all,  as  they  might  have  done  readily, 
but  rushed  into  close  quarters  and  knocked  the  colonel 
down  with  the  butt  of  a  rifle.  This  act  of  humanity  was 
not,  I  am  sure,  a  sporadic  instance  of  the  unwilHngness  of 
the  Boefs  to  take  life  unnecessarily. 

Shortly  after  i  o'clock  Sunday  morning  I  started  my 
cart  into  the  column  that  was  moving  to  the  southward 
and  rode  forward  alongside  of  the  dense  procession  of 
wagons  as  far  as  I  knew  the  road.  By  the  time  I  had 
overtaken  a  battery  of  navy  twelve-pounders,  drawn  each 
by  nine  yoke  of  oxen,  I  turned  my  horse  behind  one  of 
these    guns  and   continued    to    march  at  the  slow  pace 


THE  RETREAT  OF  AN  ARMY.  323 

taken  by  them.  Along  the  route  to  Chieveley  station, 
where  we  expected  to  make  the  new  camp,  were  innu- 
merable "dongas,"  abrupt  scores  in  the  face  of  the 
veldt,  with  precipitous  banks  from  three  to  ten  feet  deep. 
It  v/as  possible  to  avoid  these  pitfalls  only  by  following 
exactly  in  the  route  taken  by  the  leader.  To  diverge 
even  three  or  four  paces  on  one  side  or  the  other  meant 
risking  a  broken  leg  for  the  horse  or  perhaps  a  broken 
neck  for  the  driver.  Like  the  Israelites  in  the  desert,  we 
followed  a  pillar  of  cloud,  the  greatest  safety  being  in 
keeping  in  the  thickest  of  the  dust.  Once  or  twice, 
when  the  route  seemed  to  lie  over  a  level  part  of  the 
veldt,  I  ventured  to  push  on  alongside  the  column,  but, 
in  addition  to  making  a  narrow  escape  from  going  into  a 
donga,  I  discovered  that  I  was  an  object  of  suspicion  to 
the  officers  in  the  line  of  march.  When  I  heard  one  of 
the  Terrible's  petty  officers  telling  some  one  that  a 
stranger  was  keeping  alongside  the  navy  guns,  and  that 
he  wasn't  either  an  officer,  seaman,  soldier  or  marine,  I 
concluded  that  I  had  better  "square"  myself  with  the 
officer  commanding  the  naval  detachment  at  once,  for  I 
heard  this  reply:  "If  he  can't  give  the  countersign  arrest 
him  and  make  him  march  between  the  trail-ropes  of 
your  gun." 

As  I  did  not  know  the  countersign,  and  as  it  would 
have  been  impossible  in  that  dust-laden  atmosphere  to 
read  my  war-office  pass,  I  moved  my  horse  alongside  the 
officer  who  was  preparing  to  have  me  march  at  the  muzzle 
of  one  of  his  guns.  Riding  was  bad  enough;  walking 
would  have  been  intolerable."  I  had  no  difficulty  in  allay- 
ing the  suspicions  of  this  officer.  Lieutenant  Ogilvy  of  the 
Terrible;  and,  as  I  felt  safe  under  his  lee,  I  decided  to 
stick  to  him  until  daylight. 


324  THE  RETREAT  OF  AN  ARMY. 

• 

On,  on  we  plowed  through  the  dust.  At  times  there 
would  be  the  diversion  of  one  of  the  oxen  going  mad, 
plunging  furiously  at  right  angles  to  the  line  of  march 
and  bellowing  like  a  creature  under  torture,  while  all  the 
column  in  the  rear  would  have  to  come  to  a  halt  till  the 
beast  should  be  released  from  the  yoke.  Then  out  of 
the  gloom  ahead  would  come  a  warning,  ' '  Look  out  for 
the  donga!  "or  "  Big  stones  in  the  road!  "  The  teams  of 
oxen  would  keep  straight  on  like  pieces  of  machinery,  but 
the  seamen  who  were  manning  the  ropes  that  were  fast- 
ened to  the  trails  and  muzzles  of  the  guns  would  tighten 
their  lines  and  brace  themselves  for  quick  and  severe 
exertion  to  avoid  an  overturn.  For  the  spread  between 
the  wheels  of  the  improvised  carriages  upon  which 
these  heavy  pieces  were  mounted  was  so  narrow,  and 
the  guns  themselves  were  placed  so  high,  that  only  a 
moderate  tip  on  one  side  or  the  other  would  have  been 
sufficient  to  overturn  them. 

Shortly  after  two  o'clock  it  seemed  to  me  not  only  that 
the  darkness  of  the  road  was  more  pronounced,  but  the 
moonlight  overhead  was  less  brilliant.  Looking  back  at 
the  moon  I  saw  that  nearly  one-half  its  disk  was  dark, 
and  it  was  evident,  of  course,  that  an  eclipse  was  taking 
place.  I  suppose  that  not  one  person  in  five  hundred  in 
the  army  knew  that  such  an  astronomical  event  was  due, 
and,  as  the  earth's  shadow  spread  farther  and  farther  over 
the  moon's  bright  face  the  incident  seemed  to  have  a  mys- 
terious and  a  depressing  influence  upon  all  the  behold- 
ers. Particularly  was  this  the  case  with  the  Kaffirs  and 
the  Zulus,  who  were  acting  as  mule  and  oxen  drivers. 
The  eclipse  was  nearly  total,  only  a  very  small  rim  of  the 
upper  left-hand  face  of  our  satellite  remaining  unobscured, 
and  as  the  light  steadily  failed  the  phenomenon  seemed 


BASUTO   CHIEF, 


THE  RETREAT  OF  AN  ARMY.  z^l 

to  have  some  connection  with  ,the  ecHpse  that  British 
prestige  had  suffered  in  the  battle  of  Colenso.  My  driver 
told  me  that  it  was  lucky  the  Kaffirs  and  Zulus  were 
scattered  about  among  the  soldiers,  for  they  were  very 
much  alarmed,  and  if  they  had  been  assembled  in  a  mass 
they  would  have  become  panic-stricken. 

The  eclipse  was  at  its  maximum  just  before  dawn 
began,  so  that,  in  the  black  night,  it  was  impossible  to 
know  how  far  we  had  come.  Believing,  however,  that 
we  must  be  in  the  neighborhood  of  Chieveley  station. 
Lieutenant  Ogilvy  and  I  turned  out  of  the  column  to 
wait  for  daylight.  As  I  watched  the  column  pass,  each 
wagon,  gun,  ambulance,  troop  and  battalion  coming  into 
view  from  the  dust  cloud  as  it  moved  close  to  us  and 
disappearing  a  few  yards  away,  like  the  scenes  of  a  pano- 
rama, it  seemed  an  interminable  procession.  Finally, 
when  the  pontoon  train  began  passing,  it  was  pathetic  to 
look  at  those  great  rows  of  floats — two  on  the  top  of  each 
wagon  and  a  third  above  the  two — struggling  across  the 
parched  veldt  in  a  territory  where  there  was  not  enough 
water  to  float  one  of  them  within  twenty-five  miles,  except 
in  the  stream  from  which  the  Boers  had  just  driven  us 
away. 

When  daylight  came,  the  troops  pitched  their  tents 
near  Chieveley  station  or  continued  their  march  still  further 
to  the  rear  at  Frere.  I  chose  for  my  camping  ground  a 
spot  only  a*  short  distance  from  the  hospital,  where  more 
than  fifty  large  tents  and  marquees  were  filled  with 
wounded.  In  the  intense  heat  of  the  afternoon,  sitting 
in  the  door  of  my  tent,  I  saw  Generals  Buller  and  Clery, 
accompanied  by  many  other  officers,  come  to  attend  the 
funeral  of  Lieutenant  Frederick  Roberts,  son  of  Lord 
Roberts  of  Kandahar.  Two  priests  of  the  Church  of 
19 


328  THE  RETREAT  OF  AN  ARMY. 

England  led  the  funeral  corte'ge,  reciting  the  burial  service 
over  the  remains  of  the  lieutenant  and  four  other  men 
who  had  died  from  the  effects  of  their  wounds  that  morn- 
ing. There  was  no  firing  party,  and,  consequently,  -no 
volleys  were  fired  over  the  graves,  probably  because  it  was 
not  desirable  to  attract  attention  to  the  losses  sustained 
by  the  troops  any  further  than  was  absolutely  necessary. 

Owing  to  the  prolonged  spell  of  hot  weather,  during 
which  little  or  no  rain  had  fallen  day  by  day,  the  supply 
of  water  at  Chieveley  rapidly  grew  less  and  less.  Animals 
could  be  watered  only  by  driving  them  two  miles,  while 
drinking  water  for  the  men  was  brought  from  Estcourt  by 
train.  As  the  railroad  was  a  narrow-gauge,  single-track 
affair,  with  small  locomotives  that  find  difficulty  in  haul- 
ing very  moderate  loads  up  the  steep  grades  and  around 
the  sharp  curves,  it  will  readily  be  understood  that  the 
supply  allowed  each  man  for  cooking  and  drinking  was 
small — three  pints  a  day — while  there  was  none  available 
for  cleansing  purposes.  In  consequence,  I  obtained  leave 
from  General  Clery  to  return  to  the  camp  at  Frere,  where 
it  was  possible  to  get  water  for  my  animals  within  300 
yards  of  my  tent,  and  where  I  could  have  two  buckets  of 
water  a  day  for  myself  and  my  driver. 

One  of  the  most  intelligent  sergeants  of  the  Irish 
fusiliers  said  to  me: 

"I  don't  mind  the  fighting,  sir,  and  I'm  willing  to 
take  my  chance  of  being  hit,  but  I  haven't  had  enough  to 
drink  for  ten  days.  As  for  washing,  I  have  forgotten 
what  it  would  seem  like  to  be  even  moderately  clean. 
I'm  not  overparticular,  but  I  would  be  willing  to  fight 
another  battle  like  that  of  Colenso  every  week  day  if  I 
could  be  sure  of  having  a  chance  to  wash  myself  and  my 
clothes  on  Sunday." 


THE  RETREAT  OF  AM  ARMY.  329 

Considering  that  nearly  every  day  a  whirlwind  of  dust 
sweeps  through  the  camps,  leaving  everything  in  its 
course  caked  with  soil,  the  sergeant's  complaint  was  a 
natural  one. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 
WITH  GENERAL  FRENCH'S  COLUMN. 

British  Gain  a  Tentative  Victory  at  Colesberg  and  are  Afterward  Defeated 
— Christmas  in  Mafeking  and  Ladysmith. 

I  HE  YEAR  of  1900  opened  with  a  forward  move- 
ment by  the  troops  of  General  French's  com- 
mand. General  French's  column  had  been 
operating  in  the  vicinity  of  Naauwpoort  and 
Colesberg,  and  while  an  exceedingly  mobile  force  it  had 
been  unable  to  render  any  material  assistance  either  to 
General  Methuen  on  one  side  or  General  Gatacre  on  the 
other. 

General  French's  force  numbered  about  2,000  men 
and  was  composed  of  a  cavalry  brigade,  one  or  two  bat- 
teries of  horse  artillery,  some  colonial  cavalry,  some 
infantry,  and  one  field  battery.  It  moved  out  of  Naauw- 
poort early  in  December  and  drove  the  Boers  out  of 
Arundel  on  the  7th.  Afterward  General  French  quietly 
maneuvered,  his  main  advantage  resulting  in  forcing  the 
Boers  to  retire  upon  Colesberg. 

Friday  night,  December  29,  the  Boers  began  a  retreat, 
and  on  Saturday  General  French  followed  with  his  cavalry 
and  horse  artillery  to  beyond  Rendsburg  Station. 

On  Sunday  night  he  set  out  with  all  arms  for  a  night 
march,  transporting  the  infantry  in  wagons,  and  was  ready 
to  attack  at  dawn  January  i,   1900. 

330 


WITH  GEISTERAL  FRENCH'S   COLUMN.  331 

He  directed  the  infantry  and  field  artillery  against 
the  Boer  front,  while  the  mounted  arms  moved  round  the 
right  flank  to  the  west  of  the  Boers.  The  result  was  that 
the  Boers  beat  a  hasty  retreat,  and  General  French 
occupied  Colesberg. 

These  skirmishes  were  less  serious  than  one  previously 
reported  at  Labuschagnes  Nek,  near  Dordrecht,  between 
a  small  British  colonial  force  under  Captain  De  Mont- 
morency and  the  Boers. 

Here  the  fighting  lasted  six  hours,  when  the  Boers 
were  reinforced  to  600  and  the  British  were  forced  to 
retire  to  Dordrecht. 

Lieutenants  Turner  and  Milford  and  twenty-seven 
men  were  cut  off  for  a  time,  but  held  their  own  until 
rescued  by  Captain  Goldsworthy  and  four  guns. 

After  the  Boers  had  been  driven  from  Colesberg  they 
were  reinforced,  and  on  returning  they  engaged  General 
French  and  after  a  hot  skirmish  succeeded  in  regaining 
the  position  they  had  lost. 

The  most  important  action  of  New  Year's  day,  how- 
ever, took  place  about  twenty  miles  northwest  of  Bel- 
mont. A  mounted  force  consisting  of  100  Canadians  of 
the  Toronto  company,  and  200  Queenslanders,  com- 
manded by  Colonel  Rickards;  two  guns  and  a  horse  bat- 
tery, under  Major  De  Rougemont,  forty  mounted  infantry 
under  Lieutenant  Ryan,  and  200  of  the  Cornwall  Light 
Infantry,  the  whole  commanded  by  Colonel  Pilcher,  left 
Belmont  January  i  at  noon,  on  a  march  westward,  cover- 
ing twenty  miles  before  sunset.  The  force  encamped  at 
Cook's  farm,  where  the  troops  were  welcomed  enthusi- 
astically. 

At  6  o'clock  the  next  morning  the  force  approached  a 
spot  where  a  laager  of  the  Boers  was  reported.     Colonel 


332  WITH  GENERAL  FRENCH'S   COLUMN. 

Pilcher  on  approaching  the  position,  which  was  a  line  of 
strong  kopjes,  detached  Major  De  Rougemont  with  the 
guns,  Torontos  and  mounted  infantry  to  work  toward 
the  right,  making  a  turning  movement  himself  with  the 
Queenslanders  toward  the  south  position. 

The  maneuver  was  a  complete  success.  The  British 
shells  were  the  first  indication  of  the  presence  of  the 
troops. 

The  Boers  left  their  laager  and  opened  fire,  but  the 
Queenslanders  completing  the  movement,  the  laager  was 
captured  with  forty  prisoners.  The  British  casualties 
were  two  men  killed,  three  wounded  and  one  missing. 
The  whole  force  worked  admirably.  The  two  men  killed 
belonged  to  the  Queensland  contingent. 

The  raid  conducted  by  Colonel  Pilcher  was  very  diffi- 
cult, owing  to  the  fact  that  the  movements  of  the  troops 
were  immediately  communicated  to  the  Boers  by  natives. 
In  order  to  prevent  this.  Colonel  Pilcher,  in  making  his 
forced  march  from  Belmont,  left  a  British  trooper  at  every 
farm  house,  with  instructions  not  to  allow  the  natives  to 
leave  their  huts,  the  patrols  calling  the  names  of  the 
natives  hourly  in  order  to  prevent  their  escape. 

In  the  maneuver  at  Cook's  farm  Colonel  Pilcher  sent 
mounted  patrols  east.  One  of  these,  consisting  of 
four  men,  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Adie,  suddenly 
encountered  fourteen  Boers,  who  opened  fire.  The  lieu- 
tenant was  severely  wounded,  and  Private  Butler  gaye 
up  his  horse  in  order  to  carry  the  lieutenant  out  of  range. 

Another  private,  whose  horse  had  bolted,  pluckily 
returned  to  render  assistance.  He  was  wounded  in  the 
leg  and  his  horse  was  killed. 

Meanwhile  Lieutenant  Ryan,  who  had  worked  mag- 
nificently,  reported    that  the  veldt  on  the   right  of   the 


WITH  GENERAL  FRENCH'S   COLUMN.  333 

enemy  was  clear,  whereupon  Major  De  Rougemont 
ordered  the  guns  to  a  trot.  They  arrived  within  1,600 
yards  of  the  laager,  unlimbered  and  planted  five  shells 
in  as  many  minutes  within  the  laager.  Immediately  the 
enemy  could  be  seen  streaming  over  the  kopje.  They 
were  completely  surprised,  but  quickly  opened  a  well 
directed  fire. 

An  order  was  sent  to  the  Toronto  company  to  double 
quick  into  action.  The  order  was  received  with  great 
satisfaction.  The  company  rushed  forward  until  within  a 
thousand  yards  of  the  enemy's  position,  when  it  opened 
a  hot  fire  upon  the  kopje  and  completely  subdued  the 
Boer  fire. 

The  British  artillery  shelled  the  position  with  wonder- 
ful accuracy,  while  Lieutenant  Ryan,  with  mounted 
infantry,  worked  round  and  completely  uncovered  the  fire 
of  the  Boers,  who  had  been  ensconced  in  the  bushes. 

Meanwhile  Colonel  Pilcher,  with  the  Queenslanders, 
taking  advantage  of  every  cover,  made  a  direct  attack, 
the  Australians  moving  slowly  but  surely.  The  Queens- 
landers  behaved  with  great  coolness,  laughing  and  chaffing 
at  the  moment  of  greatest  peril. 

During  the  advance  the  Boer  fire  suddenly  ceased. 
Thirty-five  Boers  hoisted  a  white  flag  and  surrendered. 
A  portion  of  the  Torontos  moved  across  the  front  of  the 
guns  and  entered  the  laager.  The  Boers  had  fled. 
Fourteen  tents,  three  wagons,  a  great  store  of  rifles,  am- 
munition, forage,  saddles,  and  camp  equipment,  and 
numerous  incriminating  papers  were  captured. 

The  Boers  lost  six  killed  and  twelve  wounded.  The 
Torontos  stood  the  galling  fire  with  admirable  patience, 
never  wasting  a  shot. 

During  the  same  week  the  Suffolk  regiment  of  Gen- 


334  WITH  GENERAL  FRENCH'S   COLUMN. 

eral  French's  command  had  an  exciting  skirmish  while 
attempting  to  surprise  the  ever  watchful  Boers. 

General  French  permitted  the  attempt  at  the  urgent 
desire  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Watson.  The  march  began 
at  midnight.  The  men  wore  canvas  shoes,  or,  failing  in 
these,  marched  in  their  socks.  The  ground  was  difficult, 
and  many  halts  were  necessary  to  verify  the  position. 

On  reaching  the  summit  of  the  hill  the  officers 
advanced  over  the  crest  to  reconnoiter.  The  Boers,  who 
had  evidently  been  warned  of  the  movement,  opened  a 
terrible  fusillade.  Captain  Brett's  company  charged  into 
a  Boer  trench,  when  came  an  order  to  retire.  It  came 
in  a  shout  from  the  Boer  lines,  and  the ,  two  rear  com- 
panies, completely  deceived,  carried  it  out. 

Of  the  two  advance  companies  ninety-two  were  killed 
or  wounded.  Captain  Brett  got  his  men  under  cover 
and  sent  a  sergeant  with  five  men  to  cut  his  way  out  and 
to  ask  the  British  artillery  to  direct  the  fire  to  the  right, 
fearing  that  the  guns  might  open  on  him.  Three  men 
got  through  with  the  message,  but  Captain  Brett  was 
forced  to  surrender  with  his  remaining  seventy-two  men. 

The  redoubt  behind  which  the  Bo^rs  were  lying  was 
high  and  doubly  loopholed,  but  absolutely  undiscoverable 
except  by  balloon  and  too  high  to  be  stormed  by  scaling 
ladders. 

While  General  French  had  been  preparing  his  forward 
movement  the  garrison  at  Mafeking  was  having  an  excit- 
ing experience.  After  having  been  bombarded  with  plum 
puddings  on  Christmas  day,  Colonel  Baden-Powell  the 
next  morning  organized  an  unsuccessful  attack  upon  a 
strong  position  of  the  enemy  at  Game  Tree  Fort,  two 
miles  from  Mafeking,  from  which  the  Boers  had  main- 
tained an  annoying  shell  and  rifle  fire  for  some  weeks. 


NATAL   POLICE. 


WITH  GENERAL  FRENCH'S   COLUMN  335 

During  the  night  an  armored  train  carrying  maxim 
and  hotchkiss  guns,  under  Captain  Williams,  and  a 
detachment  of  police,  took  a  position  a  few  hundred 
yards  within  rifle  range  of  Game  Tree,  and  the  rear  and 
right  flank  were  also  supported  by  the  Bechuanaland  Rifles, 
under  Captain  Cowan.  The  whole  detachment  was  under 
Major  Godley. 

Captain  Fitzclarence,  with  D  squadron,  and  Captain 
Vernon  of  the  King's  Royal  Rifles,  with  C  squadron, 
undertook  the  attack  upon  the  east  side  of  the  intrench- 
ment.  Captain  Charles  Bentinck,  Major  Panzera,  and 
Colonel  Hore,  with  infantry  and  artillery,  held  the  reserve 
at  the  extreme  left.  Emplacements  were  thrown  up 
during  the  night,  and  orders  issued  for  the  attack  to  begin 
at  daylight,  the  artillery  fire  to  desist  upon  the  prolonged 
hooting  from  the  engine  of  the  armored  train. 

At  daybreak  the  British  guns  opened  fire  and  rapidly 
drew  a  reply.  Then  Captain  Vernon  gave  the  signal  to^ 
cease  fire  and  for  the  advance  to  begin. 

As  the  British  engaged  the  position  with  their  rifle 
fire  the  strength  of  the  fort  was  found  to  be  greater 
than  had  been  supposed.  The  enemy  concentrated  such 
an  exceedingly  hot  fire  that  the  advance  of  Captain  Ver- 
non and  his  squadron  was  almost  impossible.  But  with 
remarkable  heroism  Captains  Sandford  and  Vernon, 
Lieutenant  Paton,  Scout  Cooke,  and  a  few  men  actually 
reached  the  sand  bags  of  the  fort. 

Within  a  300  yards  area  of  the  fort  nothing  living 
could  exist,  since  the  ground  was  swept  with  Mauser  and 
Martini  bullets.  The  men  who  charged  through  this  zone 
of  fire  suffered  terribly,  and,  while  following  their  officers 
in  the  vain  endeavor  to  capture  the  fort,  twenty  men  of  C 
Squadron  lost  their  lives. 


336  WITH  GENERAL  FRENCH'S  COLUMN. 

Captain  Sandford  was  the  first  to  fall.  Captain  Vernon 
had  already  been  twice  wounded  and  Lieutenant  Paton 
killed  at  the  foot  of  the  fort.  These  two  officers,  climb- 
ing the  ditch  which  surrounded  the  fort,  thrust  their 
revolvers  through  the  enemy's  loopholes,  only  to  be  shot 
themselves  the  next  moment. 

Game  Tree  fort  wa^  surrounded  by  a  scrub  which  con- 
tained many  sharpshooters.  Their  accuracy  of  fire  stilF 
further  confused  the  men  who  followed  Captain  Vernon, 
and  who  saw  him  and  his  brother  officers  killed.  With- 
out commanders  they  were  driven  off  from  one  point,  but 
endeavored  to  scale  the  fort  at  others.  They,  however, 
found  the  position  impregnable,  and  retired  under  cover 
of  the  armored  train. 

So  many  men  were  wounded  that  a  suspension  of  hos- 
tilities took  place  under  the  auspices  of  the  Red  Cross. 
The  veldt  round  the  Boer  position  was  dotted  with  flags 
of  mercy,  and  the  British  dead  and  wounded  were  scat- 
tered within  a  small  radius  of  the  fort. 

The  British  had  almost  completely  surrounded  it  and 
had  it  not  been  extraordinarily  well  protected  it  would 
have  been  in  their  possession.  The  British  losses  were 
twenty-one  killed -and  twenty-three  wounded.  Four  out 
of  the  six  officers  were  hit. 

Previous  to  this,  December  19,  another  daybreak 
attack  had  been  planned.  It  resulted  in  a  three  hours' 
duel  with  the  big  guns  and  no  damage  on  either  side, 
though  the  emplacement  of  a  7-inch  gun  under  Major 
Panzera  was  raked.  The  casualties  up  to  the  19th 
included:  Killed,  two  officers  and  twenty-one  men; 
wounded,  six  officers  and  forty-seven  men;  missing,  two 
officers  and  fifty  men.  Twelve  natives  had  been  killed 
and  forty-one  wounded.     The  missing  troops  included  a 


WITH  GENERAL   FRENCH'S   COLUMN.  337 

detachment  at  Lobatsi  and  a  detachment  in  charge  of 
the  armored  train  which  surrendered. 

The  garrison  at  Ladysmith,  hke  that  at  Mafeking, 
spent  Christmas  day  making  merry  and  dodging  shells. 
A  correspondent  in  the  beleaguered  city  furnishes  this 
interesting  account  of  Christmas  day: 

' '  Cannons  instead  of  carols  greeted  us  on  Christmas 
morning.  The  roar  of  Long  Tom  and  the  crash  of  shells 
bade  us  awake  and  salute  the  unhappy  morn.  We  had 
hoped  that  the  Boers  would  extend  to  this  anniversary  of 
peace  and  good  will  the  privilege  of  Sunday. 

' '  At  midnight  an  enemy  crept  to  the  foot  of  Caesar's 
Camp,  and,  having  fired  five  shots,  shouted  to  the  indig- 
nant Manchesters  :  '  Complirnents  of  the  season.  A 
merry  Christmas.' 

' '  If  shrapnel  and  shell  could  make  a  merry  Christmas 
w^  had  no  cause  for  complaint.  The  Boers  were  deter- 
mined that  a  tone  of  solemnity  should  blend  with  our 
conviviality  and  that  the  thunder  of  their  guns  should 
accompany  the  anthem  sung  in  the  little  stone  church 
with  the  shattered  porch. 

"Nothing  is  more  characteristic  of  our  race  than  the 
tenacity  with  which  we  cling  to  old  customs.  Neither 
the  place  nor  the  circumstances  could  contribute  to  the 
gaiety  and  good  cheer  that  are  associated  with  Christmas 
at  home.  We  are  a  sick  and  beleaguered  garrison,  whom 
death  and  disease  have  steadily  reduced. 

"Ten  days  ago  the  distant  sound  of  artillery  filled  us 
with  hope  that  we  might  celebrate  this  festival  with  our 
deliverers.  But  the  fateful  message  from  General  Buller, 
'  I  have  made  my  effort  and  failed, '  put  an  end  to  a  pleas- 
ant dream  and  brought  us  face  to  face  with  the  stern 
necessities  of  our  position. 


/ 


338  WITH  GENERAL  FRENCH'S   COLUMN 

"  It  was  a  bright  Christmas  morning.  The  midsum- 
mer sun  beat  down  upon  t|^e  gasping  plain  and  made  one 
pant  for  a  breath  of  chill  northern  air.  Nothing  in  nature 
in  the  aspect  of  the  town  recalled  the  gaiety  or  the  solem- 
nity of  the  day.  There  were  neither  carols  nor  church 
bells  to  awaken  tender  or  sacred  memories.  Our  mes- 
sages of  peace  on  earth  and  good  will  to  man  came 
shrieking  through  the  heavens  on  wings  of  melinite  and 
burst  in  murderous  fragments  where  they  fell. 

' '  As  §oon  as  this  deadly  greeting  was  over  men  betook 
themselves  whither  duty  or  inclination  led.  Some  w  et 
to  church  and  heard  Archdeacon  Barker  deliver  a  mes- 
sage of  hope,  others  to  church  parade,  where  Chaplain 
Tuckey  moved  the  Atkinses  almost  to  tears  by  pathetic 
references  to  home  and  family  connections  that  are 
strongest  at  this  time  of  the  year. 

"In  the  evening  we  strove  by  many  devices  to 
imagine  that  we  were  having  a  merry  Christmas.  If  our 
table  did  not  present  a  picture  of  abundance,  it  was  not 
devoid  of  good  cheer.  We  were  in  excellent  spirits,  and 
far  into  the  night  the  Boers  must  have  heard  the  laughter 
and  song  of  town  and  camp. 

"  Only  in  one  room,  however,  was  the  illusion  com- 
plete. There  are  in  this  town  no  fewer  than  200  children 
of  European  parentage.  Why  they  were  permitted  to 
run  the  risk  of  bombardment  is  a  question  that  may  some 
day  demand  an  answer.  Here,  however,  they  are,  and 
it  was  determined  that  they,  at  any  cost,  must  have 
something  to  remind  them  of  a  siege  Christmas. 

"Colonel  Darnell  of  the  national  mounted  police,  a 
veteran  whose  services  date  to  the  mutiny;  Colonel  Frank 
Rhodes  and  Major  Karri  Davis,  the  Johannesburg  re- 
former who  underwent  imprisonment  rather  than  pay  the 


WITH  GENERAL  FRENCH'S  COLUMN.  339 

fine  imposed  after  Dr.  Jameson's  raid,  organized  a  Christ- 
mas tree.  Stores  were  despoiled  of  toys  and  books,  and 
the  branches  of  cedar  trees  were  heavy  with  the  delights 
of  childhood. 

* '  Four  of  these  green  Santa  Claus  trees  were  ranged 
along  the  center  of  the  hall,  Great  Britain  and  South 
Africa  in  the  middle  with  Canada  and  Australia  on  each 
side.  Upon  the  walls  were  such  mottoes  as  'Advance, 
Natal,'  and  '  May  the  New  Year  Bring  Happiness.'" 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 
TRIPLE  BOER  ATTACK  ON  LADYSMITH. 

Republican  Army  Fails  to   Compel   Surrender  of  the   Garrison,   but  Fights 

a  Fierce  Battle  with  Heavy  Loss  to  the  British — A  Hand  to 

Hand  Encounter. 

N  "  JANUARY  6  one  of  the  fiercest  and  most 
hotly  contested  attacks  upon  the  besieged  gar- 
rison at  Ladysmith  was  made.  The  Boers 
attacked  Sir  George  Stewart  White's  forces 
from  three  sides,  and  while  they  were  repulsed  they 
inflicted  severe  loss  to  the  enemy.  It  was  the  first  battle 
of  the  war  in  which  troops  engaged  in  hand  to  hand  fight- 
ing. It  was  also  the  first  time  that  the  Boers  ha\e 
assaulted  the  British  in  an  entrenched  position,  hereto- 
fore having  confined  their  attacks  upon  Ladysmith  to 
bombardment  by  artillery.  The  principal  attack  was 
upon  the  British  entrenchment  at  Caesar's  Camp  and 
Wagon  Hill.  After  shelling  the  trenches  the  Boers 
charged  and  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  drove  the  British 
from  their  position.  The  latter  rallied  and  in  turn 
assaulted  the  Boers,  recapturing  the  ground  they  had 
lost.  Three  times  was  this  repeated.  The  same  sort  of 
conflict  was  waged  at  Platt-Rand  Ridge,  where  the 
entrenched  position  was  captured  by  Boers  and  British 
alternately. 

The  attack  began  as  usual  early  in  the  morning  and 

340 


TRIPLE  BOER  ATTACK  ON  LADYSMITH.      341 

the  fighting  was  incessant  and  terrific  until  7:30  p.  m.  , 
when  a  heavy  thunderstorm  came  on  which  added  a 
picturesqueness  to  the  last  incident  of  the  day.  While 
the  rain  was  pouring,  the  lightning  flashing,  the  Devon- 
shire regiment,  led  by  Col.  Park,  attacked  the  Boers  who 
were  entrenched  on  Wagon  Hill  and  drove  them  out  at 
the  point  of  the  bayonet. 

The  best  estimate  of  the  British  losses  is  fourteen 
officers  killed  and  thirty-four  wounded  and  800  killed  and 
wounded  in  the  rank  and  file.  The  British  estimated  the 
Boer  losses  at  2,000,  but  the  Boers  themselves  claim  that 
they  lost  only  about  a  score  of  men.  The  following  is  a 
detailed  description  of  the  fight: 

The  Boers  made  a  determined  effort  to  capture 
Caesar's  Camp  and  Wagon  Hill.  The  latter  is  a  lofty 
eminence  southwest,  the  possession  of  which  would  have 
brought  them  within  rifle  range  of  the  town. 

Caesar's  camp  was  held  by  the  First  Battalion  of  the 
Manchester  Regiment.  The  position  was  separated  from 
that  of  the  Boers  by  a  rock  ravine. 

In  the  early  hours  of  the  morning,  under  the  cover  of 
darkness,  the  Heidelberg  commando  succeeded  in  evad- 
ing the  British  pickets  and  made  its  way  through  the 
thorn  bush,  reaching  the  foot  of  the  slc^e  at  2 130 
o'clock. 

The  alarm  was  raised  by  sentries,  but  before  the  full 
extent  of  the  danger  was  realized  the  outlying  sangars 
had  been  rushed  and  their  defenders  slain. 

Hearing  the  firing,  two  companies  of  the  Gordon 
Highlanders  went  to  the  assistance  of  the  Manchesters. 
It  was  at  first  thought  that  the  Boers  were  concentrating 
on  the  southern  slope,  where  they  had  already  secured  a 
footing  on  the  plateau.      Here,  however,  the  advance  was 


342       TRIPLE  BOER  ATTACK  ON  LADYSMITH. 

checked  by  the  steady  volleys  of  infantry  and  the  deadly 
fire  of  the  automatic  gun. 

Lieutenant  Huntgrubbe  went  to  see  if  aid  was  needed 
by  the  troops  stationed  on  the  ridge  near  the  town,  una- 
ware that  the  enemy  had  already  captured  the  breast- 
works. He  called  out  to  the  sergeant  and  received  the 
reply:  "Here  I  am,  sir,"  and  then  suddenly  disappeared 
from  sight.  Captain  Carnegie,  suspecting  a  ruse,  brdered 
the  Gordons  to  fire  a  volley  and  charge.  The  Boers 
thereupon  fell  back  precipitately,  leaving  behind  the 
English  officers  whom  they  had  captured.  The  lieu- 
tenant was  quite  unhurt. 

By  this  time  it  was  evident  the  camp  was  being 
assailed  on  both  the  left  flank  and  the  front.  By  day- 
break reinforcements  of  the  Gordon  Highlanders  and  the 
rifle  brigade  had  been  hurried  up  to  the  fighting  line. 
Dick  Conyngham,  who  was  leading  the  Gordons  out  of 
camp,  fell  mortally  wounded,  hit  by  a  stray  bullet  while 
still  close  to  town. 

The  Fifty-third  Battery,  under  Major  Abdy,  crossed 
Klip  River  and  shelled  the  ridge  on  the  reverse  slope  in 
front  of  the  position  where  the  Boers  were  lying  among 
the  thorn  bushes.  The  shrapnel  which  flew  over  the 
heads  of  the  British  did  terrible  execution,  effectually 
held  the  Boers  in  check,  and  rendered  it  impossible  for 
them  to  send  reinforcements  to  their  men  through  the 
ravine. 

The  Boers  fought  throughout  with  the  most  stubborn 
courage  and  had  evidently  determined  to  take  the  camp 
or  die  in  the  attempt.  Their  six-inch  gun  on  Umbelwana 
Mountain  and  its  smaller  satellites  threw  over  loo  shells 
at  Abdy's  battery  and  the  troops  on  the  hill. 

The    British,     however,    not    the   less    gallant,    were 


='  \ 


DUTCH   REFORMED   CHURCH,  PRETORIA. 


TRIPLE  BOER  ATTACK  ON  LADYSMITH.       345 

resolved,  and  the  Boers  were  pressed  back  step  by  step 
until  at  length  those  on  the  left  broke  and  fled  in  utter 
disorder. 

A  terrific  storm  of  rain  and  hail,  accompanied  by 
peals  of  thunder,  burst  over  the  camp  during  the  fighting 
and  served  to  swell  the  streams  into  raging  torrents. 

The  struggle  in  this  part  of  the  field  was  now  at  an 
end.  The  finale  was  a  terrific  fusillade  all  along  the  line, 
the  crash  of  which  almost  drowned  the  incessant  thunder 
above. 

Meanwhile  a  more  exciting  contest  was  in  progress  in 
the  direction  of  Wagon  Hill.  At  two  o'clock  a  storming 
party  furnished  by  the  Harrismith  commando  crept  slowly 
and  cautiously  along  the  donga  in  the  valley  which 
divided  the  British  posts  from  the  Boer  camp.  A  few 
well-aimed  rifle  shots  killed  the  British  pickets.  Taking 
advantage  of  every  inch  of  cover  the  Boers  gradually 
reached  the  crest  of  the  height.  There  the  Light  Horse 
were  posted,  but  were  forced  to  retire  before  the  Free 
Staters'  advance,  there  being  no  breastworks  for  defense 
on  the  western  shoulder  of  the  hill. 

With  little  to  impede  their  progress  the  Boers  came  to 
the  emplacement,  where  they  surprised  the  working 
parties  of  the  Gordon  Highlanders,  the  sappers,  and  the 
Sixtieth  Rifles.  Lieutenant  Digby  Jones,  collecting  a 
handful  of  men,  made  a  gallant  effort  to  hold  the  posi- 
tion, but  numbers  were  against  them.  .  After  a  stubborn 
resistance  they  were  driven  back  and  the  Boers  got  pos- 
session of  the  summit. 

The    Free  Staters  did   not   venture   far   or    face    the 
heavy   fire    from    the    sangar.      Here    Lieutenant    Mac- 
Naghten  and  thirty  Gordons  were  taken  prisoners,  though 
not  till  every  man  had  been  wounded. 
20 


346       TRIPLE  BOER  ATTACK  ON  LADYSMITH. 

Colonel  Edwards,  with  two  squadrons  of  Light  Horse, 
arrived  on  the  scene,  and  the  Twenty-first  Battery,  under 
Major  Brewitt,  came  into  action,  and  prevented  the 
storming  party  from  being  reinforced  from  the  Boer  camp. 

At  the  same  time  the  Eighteenth  Hussars  and  the 
Fifth  Lancers  checked  the  movement  from  the  Spruit  on 
the  right  flank. 

Nevertheless  the  British  position  at  this  point  became 
critical.  The  men  retired  to  cover  behind  the  northern 
slope,  while  the  Boers  made  their  way  into  the  pass 
dividing  them  from  the  hill. 

Major    Bowen  rallied    a    few   of    the   rifles,    but    fell 
while  leading  them  to  the  charge.      His  example  was  at 
once  followed  by  Lieutenant  Tod,  but  he  met  the  same 
.  fate. 

The  Boers  were  making  good  footing  and  had  already 
secured  the  emplacement,  when  Major  Miller  Wallnut, 
calling  the  scattered  Gordons  together,  charged  and  drove 
them  back  and  thus  cleared  the  ground.  He  joined 
Lieutenant  Jones  in  a  newly  prepared  emplacement  on 
the  western  shoulder. 

A  pause  ensued  for  a  time,  but  the  Boers,  not  finally 
beaten,  taking  advantage  of  the  storm  then  raging, 
essayed  to  capture  the  position  by  another  rush.  Three 
of  their  leaders  reached  the  parapet,  but  were  shot  down 
by  Lieutenant  Jones  and  Major  Wallnut,  the  latter  of 
whom  also  fell. 

This  renewed  check  effectually  discouraged  the  assail- 
ants, and  the  deadly  duel  was  now  practically  at  an  end. 
Nevertheless,  small  parties  of  braver  spirits  kept  up  a 
murderous  fire  on  the  British  from  behind  rocks. 

The  moment  had  evidently  arrived  to  strike  a  final 
blow,    and    Colonel    Park    quickly  issued    the   necessary 


TRIPLE  BOER  ATTACK  ON  LADYSMITH.       347 

orders.  Three  companies  of  the  Devonshires,  led  by 
Captain  Lafene,  Lieutenant  Field,  and  Lieutenant  Mas- 
terson,  made  a  brilliant  charge  across  the  open  under  a 
terrific  fire,  and  fairly  hurled  the  Boers  down  the  hill  at 
the  point  of  the  bayonet.  In  the  course  of  the  struggle 
J^afene  and  Field  were  killed,  while  Masterson  received 
no  fewer  than  ten  wounds. 

This  was  the  close  to  a  struggle  which  had  lasted  six- 
teen hours,  during  which  every  rifie  and  gun  was  brought 
to  bear.  The  attacks  from  the  north  and  east  had  been 
repulsed  and  the  grand  assault  failed  all  along  the  line. 
Lord  Ava  was  mortally  wounded  early  in  the  morning 
while  accompanying  Colonel  Ian  Hamilton  to  the  scene  of 
action. 

The  following  is  Sir  George  Stewart  White's  official 
report  of  the  battle  : 

"  An  attack  was  commenced  on  my  position,  but  was 
chiefly  against  Caesar's  Camp  and  Wagon  Hill.  The 
enemy  was  in  great  strength  and  has  pushed  the  attack 
with  the  greatest  courage  and  energy.  Some  of  the  in- 
trenchments  on  Wagon  Hill  were  three  times  taken  by 
the  enemy  and  retaken  by  us.  The  attack  continued 
until  7:30  p.  M. 

* '  One  point  in  our  position  was  occupied  by  the  enemy 
the  whole  day.  But  at  dusk,  in  a  very  heavy  rainstorm, 
they  were  turned  out  of  this  position  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet  in  a  most  gallant  manner  by  the  Devons,  led  by 
Colonel  Park.  / 

"  Colonel  Ian  Hamilton  commanded  on  Wagon  Hill 
and  rendered  valuable  service.  The  troops  have  had  a 
very  trying  time  and  have  behaved  excellently.  They 
are  elated  at  the  service  they  have  rendered  the  queen. 

"The    enemy  were  repulsed   everywhere    with    very 


348       TRIPLE  BOER  ATTACK  ON  LADYSMITH. 

heavy  loss,  greatly  exceeding  that  on  my  side,  which  will 
be  reported  as  soon  as  the  lists  are  completed. 

[Signed]  •  ♦  White.  " 

The  following  is  the  official  Boer  account  of  the  battle, 
sent  from  the  Hoofd  laager  at  Ladysmith  : 

"The  British  made  no  attempt  to  hold  the  first  line 
of  breastworks,  but  made  an  exceedingly  stubborn  resist- 
ance at  the  next  row.  Every  inch  was  stubbornly  con- 
tested, and  conspicuous  bravery  was  displayed  on  both 
sides. 

"After  I o  o'clock  the  British  artillery  fire  slackened, 
and  a  terrible  individual  contest  ensued  among  the  rifle- 
men for  the  possession  of  Plat-Rand  ridge.  At  noon  a 
heavy  thunder-storm  interrupted  the  battle,  lasting  for 
two  hours. 

' '  Although  the  burghers  succeeded  in  ultimately  gain- 
ing possession  of  most  of  the  British  positions  on  the 
western  side  of  the  Plat-Rand,  they  were  finally  obliged 
to  retire  from  most  of  the  ground  they  occupied. 

' '  The  British  were  most  strongly  intrenched,  their  re- 
doubts being  still  fully  loopholed,  and  the  combat  was  so 
close  that  rifles  were  frequently  fired  at  arm's  length.  It 
was  a  hand-to-hand  encounter. 

"The  men  on  both  sides  fought  like  demons,  and  the 
horror  and  bewilderment  of  the  scene  could  scarcely  be 
paralleled. 

' '  The  operations  were  continued  the  next  day  (Sun- 
day) on  a  smaller  scale,  but  it  is  reported  that  as  a  result 
of  one  of  the  forlorn  hopes  one  gun  and  two  ammunition 
wagons  were  captured. " 


CHAPTER  XXVIL 
WINSTON   CHURCHILL'S  ESCAPE. 

Thrilling  Story  of  a  Newspaper  Correspondent  Who  was  Taken  Prisoner  and 
Gained  His  Liberty  by  Flight — English  Prisoners'  Life  in  Pretoria 

^  ARLY  in  the  war  Winston  Churchill,  a  son  of  Lord 
Randolph  and  Lady  Churchill,  acting  as  a  cor- 
respondent for  a  London  paper,  was  captured 
while  assisting  in  defending  an  armored  train. 
He  was  taken  to  Pretoria,  from  which  place  he  afterwards 
escaped.  His  escape  was  one  of  the  most  thrilling  per- 
sonal incidents  of  the  war,  and  his  own  account  of  it  is  in- 
teresting, particularly  as  it  gives  the  first  glimpse  of  the 
life  of  British  prisoners  at  the  Boer  capital. 

The  following  is  Mr.  Churchill's  story  as  written  by 
himself : 

The  details  of  my  escape  fr^m  Pretoria,  with  incidents 
of  my  captivity  there,  may  serve  to  throw  additional  light 
on  Boer  character,  as  well  as  to  give  a  better  understand- 
ing of  the  task  which  the  British  army  is  facing  in  South 
Africa. 

Before  I  had  been  an  hour  in  captivity  I  resolved  to 
escape.  Many  plans  suggested  themselves,  were  exam- 
ined, and  rejected.  For  a  month  I  thought  of  nothing 
else.  But-  the  peril  and  difficulty  restrained  action.  I 
think  the  news  of  the  British  defeat  at  Stormberg  clinched 
the  matter.  All  the  news  we  heard  in  Pretoria  was  de- 
rived from  Boer  sources,  and  was  exaggerated  and  dis- 

349 


350  WINSTON  CHURCHILL'S  ESCAPE. 

torted.  Every  day  we  read  in  the  Volksstem — probably 
the  most  astounding  tissue  of  lies  ever  presented  to  the 
public  under  the  name  of  a  newspaper — of  Boer  victories 
and  of  the  huge  slaughters  and  flights  of  the  British. 

We  wretched  prisoners  lost  heart.  Perhaps  Great 
Britain  would  not  persevere  ;  perhaps  foreign  powers 
would  intervene  ;  perhaps  there  would  be  another  cow- 
ardly peace. 

At  the  best,  the  war  and  our  confinement  would  be  pro- 
longed for  many  months.  I  do  not  pretend  that  impa- 
tience at  being  locked  up  was  not  the  foundation  of  my 
determination  ;  but  I  should  never  have  screwed  up  my 
courage  to  make  the  attempt  without  the  earnest  desire 
to  do  something  to  help  the  British  cause. 

The  State  Model  School,  the  building  in  which  we  were 
confined,  is  a  brick  structure  standing  in  a  gravel  quad- 
rangle arid  surrounded  on  two  sides  by  iron  grills  and  on 
two  by  a  corrugated  iron  fence  about  ten  feet  high. 
These  boundaries  oflfered  little  obstacle  to  any  one  who 
possessed  the  activity  of  youth,  but  the  fact  that  they 
were  guarded  by  sentries  armed  with  rifle  and  revolver 
made  them  a  well-nigh  insuperable  barrier.  No  walls  are 
so  hard  to  pierce  as  living  walls. 

I  thought  of  the  penetrating  power  of  gold,  and  the  sen- 
tries were  sounded.  They  were  incorruptible.  The  brib- 
ery market  in  this  country  has  been  spoiled  by  the 
millionaires.  So  nothing  remained  but  to  break  out  in 
spite  of  them.  With  another  officer,  who  may  for  the 
present — since  he  is  still  a  prisoner — remain  nameless,  I 
formed  a  scheme. 

It  was  discovered  that  when  the  sentries  near  the  offices 
walked  about  on  their  beats  they  were  at  certain  moments 
unable  to  see  the  top  of  a  few  yards  of  the  wall.     The 


WINSTON  CHURCHILL'S  ESCAPE.  351 

electric  lights  in  the  middle  of  the  quadrangle  lighted  the 
wall,  but  cut  off  the  sentries  behind  them  from  looking  at 
the  eastern  wall.  For  behind  the  lights  all  seemed  by 
contrast  darkness.  The  first  thing  was  therefore  to  pass 
the  two  sentries  near  the  offices.  It  was  necessary  to  hit 
off  the  moment  when  both  their  backs  should  be  turned. 
After  the  wall  was  scaled  we  should  be  in  the  garden  of 
the  villa  next  door. 

There  our  plan  came  to  an  end.  Everything  after  this 
was  vague  and  uncertain.  How  to  get  out  of  the  garden, 
how  to  pass  unnoticed  through  the  streets,  how  to  evade 
the  patrols,  and  above  all,  how  to  cover  the  280  miles  to 
the  Portuguese  frontiers,  were  questions  which  would  arise 
at  a  later  stage.  All  attempts  to  communicate  with  friends 
outside  had  failed.  We  cherished  the  hope  that  with 
chocolate,  a  little  Kaffir  knowledge,  and  a  great  deal  of 
luck  we, might  march  the  distance  in  a  fortnight,  buying 
meals  at  the  native  kraals  and  lying  hidden  by  day. 

We  determined  to  try  on  the  night  of  December  11, 
making  up  our  minds  quite  suddenly  in  the  morning,  for 
these  things  are  best  done  on  the  spur  of  the  moment. 

I  passed  the  afternoon  in  terror.  Nothing  has  ever 
disturbed  me  so  much.  There  is  something  appalling  in 
the  idea  of  steahng  secretly  off  in  the  night  like  a  guilty 
thief.  The 'fear  of  detection  has  a  pang  of  its  own.  Be- 
sides we  knew  quite  well  that  on  occasion,  even  on  excuse, 
the  sentries  would  fire.  Fifteen  yards  is  a  short  range. 
And  beyond  the  immediate  danger  lay  a  prospect  of 
severe  hardship,  only  faint  hopes  of  success,  and  the  prob- 
ability at  the  best  of  five  months  in  Pretoria  jail. 

The  afternoon  dragged  tediously  away.  I  tried  to 
read  Mr.  Lecky's  "  History  of  England,"  but  for  the  first 
time  in  my  life  that  wise  writer  wearied  me.      I  played 


352  WINSTON  CHURCHILL'S  ESCAPE. 

chess  and  was  hopelessly  beaten.  At  last  it  grew  dark. 
At  7  o'clock  the  bell  for  dinner  rang  and  the  officers 
trooped  off.  Now  was  the  time.  But  the  sentries  gave 
us  no  chance.  They  did  not  walk  about.  One  of  them 
stood  exactly  opposite  the  only  practicable  part  of  the 
wall.  We  waited  for  two  hours,  but  the  attempt  was 
plainly  impossible. 

Tuesday,  the  12th!  Another  day  of  fear,  but  fear 
crystallizing  into  desperation.  Anything  was  better  than 
suspense.     Night  came  again.     Again  the  dinner  bell  rang. 

Choosing  opportunity  I  strolled  across  the  quadrangle 
and  secreted  myself  in  one  of  the  offices.  Through  a 
chink  I  watched  the  sentries.  For  half  an  hour  they  re- 
mained stolid.  Then  one  walked  up  to  his  comrade  and 
they  began  to  talk.  Their  backs  were  turned.  Now  or 
never  !  I  darted  out  of  my  hiding  place  and  ran  to  the 
wall,  seized  the  top  with  my  hands  and  drew  myself  up. 

Twice  I  let  myself  down  again  in  sickly  hesitation,  and 
then  with  a  third  resolve  scrambled  up.  The  top  was  flat. 
Lying  on  it  I  had  one  parting  glimpse  of  the  sentries,  still 
talking,  still  with  their  backs  turned  ;  but,  I  repeat,  fifteen 
yards  away.  Then  I  lowered  myself  silently  into  the  gar- 
den and  crouched  among  the  shrubs.  I  was  free  !  The 
first  step  had  been  taken  and  it  was  irrevocable. 

It  now  remained  to  await  my  comrade.  The  bushes 
gave  a  good  deal  of  cover,  and  in  the  moonlight  their 
shadow  lay  black  on  the  ground. 

Twenty  yards  away  was  the  house,  and  I  had  not  been 
five  minutes  in  hiding  before  I  perceived  that  it  was  full 
of  people  ;  the  windows  revealed  brightly  lighted  rooms, 
and  within  I  could  see  figures  moving  about. 

This  was  a  fresh  complication.  We  had  always 
thought  the  house  unoccupied.    Presently —  how  long  after- 


BATTERY   AND   SURFACE  WORKS,  JUNIPER    MINE,  JOHANNESBURG. 


;:^t^liSS^^ 


SURFACE   WORKS,   VILLAGE    MAIN    REEF   MINE,  JOHANNESBURG. 


WINSTON  CHURCHILL'S  ESCAPE.  353 

ward  I  do  not  know,  for  the  ordinary  measures  of  time, 
hours,  minutes,  and  seconds,  are  meaningless  on  such  oc- 
casions— a  man  came  out  of  the  door  and  walked  across 
the  garden  in  my  direction.  Scarcely  ten  yards  away  he 
stopped  and  stood  still,  looking  steadily  toward  me. 

I  cannot  describe  the  surge  of  panic  whiqh  nearly 
overwhelmed  me.  I  must  be  discovered  !  I  dared  not  stir 
an  inch.  But  amid  a  tumult  of  emotion  reason  whispered, 
"Trust  to  the  dark  background."    I  remained  motionless. 

For  a  long  time  the  man  and  I  were  opposite  each 
other,  and  every  instant  I  expected  him  to  spring  forward. 
A  vague  idea  crossed  my  mind  that  I  might  silence  him. 
"  Hush,  I  am  a  detective.  We  expect  that  an  officer  will 
break  out  here  to-night.      I  am  waiting  to  catch  him." 

Reason  —  scornful  this  time  —  rephed  :  ' '  Surely  a 
Transvaal  detective  would  speak  Dutch.  Trust  to  the 
shadow." 

So  I  trusted,  and  after  a  spell  another  man  came  out  of 
the  house,  lighted  a  cigar,  and  he  and  the  other  walked  off 
together.  No  sooner  had  they  turned  than  a  cat  pursued 
by  a  dog  rushed  into  the  bushes  and  collided  with  me. 
The  startled  animal  uttered  a  "  miau "  of  alarm  and 
darted  back  again,  making  a  horrible  rustling.  Both  men 
stopped  at  once.  But  it  was  only  the  cat,  and  they 
passed  out  of  the  garden  gate. 

An  hour  had  passed  since  I  climbed  the  wall.  Where 
was  my  comrade  ?  Suddenly  I  heard  a  voice  from  within 
the  quadrangle  say,  ' '  All  up. "  I  crawled*  back  to  the 
wall.  Two  officers  were  walking  up  and  down  inside 
jabbering  Latin  words,  amid  which  I  caught  my  name.  I 
risked  a   cough. 

One  of  the  officers  immediately  began  to  chatter 
alone.     The  other  said,  slowly  and  clearly:   " 7  can- 


354  WINSTON  CHURCHILL'S  ESCAPE. 

not  get  out.     The  sentry  suspects.      It's  all  up.     Can  you 
get  back  ?  " 

But  now  all  my  fears  fell  from  me.  To  go  back  was 
impossible.  Fate  pointed  onward.  Besides,  I  said  :  "Of 
course  I  shall  be  recaptured,  but  I  will  at  least  haye  a 
run  for  my  money. "  I  said  to  the  officers  :  "I  shall  go 
on  alone."  Now  I  was  in  the  right  mood  for  these  un- 
dertakings ;  no  odds  against  success  affected  me. 

The  gate  into  the  road  was  only  a  few  yards  from  an- 
other sentry.  I  said  to  myself,  ' '  Toujours  de  I'audace, " 
put  my  hat  on  my  head,  strode  into  the  middle  of  the 
garden,  walked  past  the  windows  of  the  house  without 
attempt  at  concealment,  went  through  the  gate,  and 
turned  to  the  left. 

I  passed  the  sentry  at  less  than  five  yards.  Most  of 
them  knew  me  by  sight.  Whether  he  looked  at  me  I  do 
not  know,  for  I  never  turned  my  head.  But  after  walking 
a  hundred  yards  I  knew  that  the  second  obstacle  had  been 
surmounted.     I  was  at  large  in  Pretoria. 

I  walked  on,  humming  a  tune  and  choosing  the  middle 
of  the  road.  The  streets  were  full  of  burghers,  but  they 
paid  no  attention  to  me.  Gradually  I  reached  the  sub- 
urbs, and  on  a  little  bridge  I  sat  down  to  reflect. 

I  was  in  the  heart  of  the  enemy's  country.  I  knew  no 
one  to  whom  I  could  apply  for  succor.  Nearly  300 
miles  stretched  between  me  and  Delagoa  Bay.  My 
escape  must  be  known  at  dawn.  Pursuit  would  be  im- 
mediate. * 

Yet  all  exits  were  barred.  The  town  was  picketed, 
the  country  was  patrolled,  the  trains  were  searched,  the 
line  was  guarded. 

I  had  £j^  in  my  pocket  and  four  slabs  of  chocolate  ; 
but  the  compass  and  the  map,   the  opium  tablets  and 


WINSTON  CHURCH  ILL'S  ESCAPE.  355 

meat  lozenges,  were  in  my  friend's  pockets.  Worst  of  all, 
I  could  not  speak  a  word  of  Dutch  or  Kaffir. 

But  when  hope  had  departed,  fear  had  gone  as  well. 
I  formed  a  plan.  I  would  find  the  Delagoa  Bay  railway. 
I  must  follow  that  in  spite  of  the  pickets.  I  looked  at 
the  stars.  Orion  shone  brightly.  Scarcely  a  year  ago 
he  had  guided  me  when  lost  in  the  desert  to  the  banks 
of  the  Nile.  He  had  given  me  water.  Now  he  should 
lead  me  to  freedom. 

After  walking  south  half  a  mile  I  struck  the  railroad. 
Was  it  the  line  to  Delagoa  Bay  or  the  Petersburg  branch? 
If  it  were  the  former  it  should  run  east.  But  as  far  as 
I  could  see  this  line  ran  northward.  Still  I  resolved  to 
follow  it. 

Where  was  the  need  of  caution?  I  marched  briskly 
along  the  line.  Here  and  there  the  lights  of  a  picket  fire 
gleamed.  Every  bridge  had  its  watchers.  But  I  passed 
them  all,  making  short  detours  at  the  dangerous  places, 
and  really  taking  scarcely  any  precautions.  Perhaps  that 
was  the  reason  I  succeeded. 

As  I  walked  I  extended  my  plan.  I  could  not  march 
300  miles.  I  would  board  a  train  in  motion  and  hide 
under  the  seats,  on  the  roof,  on  the  couplings — any- 
where. 

After  walking  two  hours  I  perceived  the  signal  lights 
of  a  station.  I  left  the  line,  and,  circling  round  it,  hid 
in  -the  ditch  by  the  track  about  200  yards  beyond.  I 
argued  that  the  train  would  stop  at  the  station  and  that  it 
would  not  have  got  up  too  much  speed  by  the  time  it 
reached  me. 

An  hour  passed.  Suddenly  I  heard  the  whistle  and 
the  approaching  rattle.  Then  the  yellow  headlights  of 
the  engine  flashed  into  view.     The  train  waited  five  min- 


356  WINSTON  CHURCHILL'S  ESCAPE. 

utes  at  the  station  and  started  again  with  much  noise.  I 
rehearsed  the  act  in  my  mind.  I  must  wait  until  the 
entwine  had  passed,  otherwise  I  should  be  seen.  Then  I 
must  make  a  dash  for  the  carriages. 

The  train  started  slowly,  but  gathered  speed  sooner 
than  I  had  expected.  The  engine  rushed  past.  Then 
I  hurled  myself  on  the  trucks,  grasped  some  handhold, 
was  swung  off  my  feet — my  toes  bumping  on  the  line — 
and  with  a  struggle  seated  myself  on  the  couplings  of  the 
fifth  truck. 

It  was  a  goods  (freight)  train,  and  the  trucks  were  full 
of  soft  sacks  covered  with  coal  dust.  I  burrowed  in 
among  them. 

In  five  minutes  I  was  completely  buried.  The  sacks 
were  warm  and  comfortable.  I  resolved  to  sleep;  nor  can 
I  imagine  a  more  pleasing  lullaby  than  the  clatter  of  the 
train  that  carries  you  at  twenty  miles  an  hour  away  from 
the  enemy's  capital. 

How  long  I  slept  I  do  not  know,  but  I  woke  up  sud- 
denly with  all  exhilaration  gone,  and  only  the  conscious- 
ness of  oppressive  difficulties.  I  must  leave  the  train 
before  daybreak,  so  that  I  could  drink  at  a  pool  and 
find  some  hiding  place  while  it  was  dark.  Another  night 
I  would  board  another  train. 

I  crawled  from  my  hiding  place  among  the  sacks  and 
sat  again  on  the  couplings.  The  train  was  running  at  a 
fair  speed,  but  I  felt  it  was  time  to  leave  it.  I  took  the 
iron  handle  at  the  back  of  the  truck,  pulled  strongly 
with  my  left  hand,  and  sprang.  My  feet  struck  the  ground 
in  two  gigantic  strides,  and  the  next  instant  I  was  sprawl- 
ing in  the  ditch,  shaken  but  unhurt.  The  train  hurried 
on  its  journey. 

It  was  still  dark.     I  was  in  a  wide  valley,  surrounded 


WINSTON  CHURCHILL'S  ESCAPE.  357 

by  low  hills,  and  carpeted  with  high  grass  drenched  in 
dew.      I  searched  for  water  and  soon  found  a  clear  pool. 

Presently  the  dawn  began  to  break,  and  the  sky  to 
the  east  grew  yellow.  I  saw  with  relief  that  the  railway 
ran  steadily  toward  the  sunrise.  I  had  taken  the  right 
line. 

I  set  out  for  the  hills,  among  which  I  hoped  to  find 
some  hiding-place,  and  as  it  became  broad  daylight  I 
entered  a  small  group  of  trees  on  the  side  of  a  ravine. 
Here  I  resolved  to  wait  till  dusk.  I  had  one  consolation, 
no  one  in  the  world  knew  where  I  was;  I  did  not  know 
myself.     It  was  now  four  o'clock. 

At  first  it  was  terribly  cold,  but  by  degrees  the  sun 
gained  power,  and  by  ten  o'clock  the  heat  was  oppress- 
ive. My  sole  companion  was  a  gigantic  vulture,  who 
manifested  an  extravagant  interest  in  my  condition. 
From  my  lofty  position  I  commanded  a  view  of  the 
valley.  A  little  tin-roofed  town  lay  three  miles  to  the 
westward.  Scattered  farm-steads,  each  with  a  clump  of 
trees,  relieved  the  monotony.  At  the  foot  of  the  hill 
stood  a  Kaffir  kraal,  and  the  figures  of  its  inhabitants 
dotted  the  patches  of  cultivation  or  surrounded  the  goats 
and  cows  which  fed  on  the  pasture. 

The  railway  ran  through  the  middle  of  the  valley,  and 
I  could  watch  the  passage  of  the  trains.  I  counted  four 
passing  each  way,  and  drew  the  conclusion  that  the  same 
number  would  run  by  night.  During  the  day  I  ate  one 
slab  of  chocolate,  which,  with  the  heat,  produced  a  violent 
thirst.  The  pool  was  hardly  half  a  mile  away,  but  I  dared 
not  leave  the  little  wood,  for  I  could  see  white  men  riding 
or  walking  across  the  valley,  and  once  a  Boer  fired  two 
shots  at  birds  close  to  my  hiding-place. 

The  elation  and  the  excitement  had  burned  away,  and 


358  WINSTON  CHURCHILL'S  ESCAPE. 

a  chilling  reaction  followed.  I  was  hungry,  for  I  had  had 
no  dinner  before  starting,  and  chocolate,  though  it 
sustains,  does  not  satisfy.  Then  I  prayed  long  and 
earnestly  for  help  and  guidance. 

The  long  day  reached  its  close.  A  ponderous  Boer 
wagon  crawled  slowly  along  the  track  toward  town.  The 
Kaffirs  collected  their  herds  and  drew  around  their  kraal. 
The  daylight  died,  and  soon  it  was  quite  dark. 

Then  I  set  forth.  I  hurried  to  the  railway  line,  paus- 
ing on  my  way  to  drink  at  the  stream.  I  waited  for  some 
time  at  the  top  of  the  steep  gradient  in  the  hope  of  catch- 
ing a  train.  But  none  came,  and  I  gradually  guessed — 
and  I  have  since  found  that  I  guessed  right — that  the 
train  I  had  already  traveled  in  was  the  only  one  that  ran 
at  night.  At  last  I  resolved  to  walk  on,  and  make 
twenty  miles  of  my  journey.  I  walked  for  about  six 
hours. 

Every  bridge  was  guarded  by  armed  men;  every  few 
miles  were  grangers'  huts;  at  intervals  there  were  stations 
with  villages.  Leaving  the  railroad,  I  fell  into  bogs  and 
swamps,  and  brushed  through  high  grass  dripping  with 
dew,  and  so  I  was  drenched  to  the  waist. 

By  faith  in  God  I  sustained  myself  during  the  next 
few  days,  obtaining  food  at  great  risk,  resting  in  conceal- 
ment by  day  and  walking  only  at  night.  On  the  fifth  day 
I  was  beyond  Middleburg. 

On  the  sixth  day  the  chance  came.  I  found  a  train 
duly  labeled  to  Lorenzo  Marquez  standing  in  a  siding, 
and,  filling  a  bottle  with  water,  I  prepared  for  the  last 
stage  of  my  journey. 

The  truck  was  laden  with  sacks  of  soft  merchandise, 
and  I  managed  to  work  my  way  to  the  mmost  recess.  I 
was  resolved  that  nothing  should  lure  me  from  my  hiding- 


WINSTON  CHURCHILL'S  ESCAPE.  359 

place  until  I  reached  Portuguese  territory.  I  expected 
the  journey  to  take  thirty-six  hours;  it  dragged  out  into 
two  and  a  half  days. 

I  feared  lest  the  trucks  should  be  searched  at  Komati 
Poort,  and  my  anxiety  was  great.  To  prolong  it  we  were 
shunted  on  to  a  siding  for  eighteen  hours.  Once,  indeed, 
they  began  to  search  my  truck,  but  did  not  search  deep 
enough,  so  that  I  reached  Delagoa  Bay  at  last,  and 
crawled  forth,  weary,  dirty,  hungry,  but  free  once  more. 

I  found  my  way  to  the  British  Consul,  Mr.  Ross,  who 
at  first  mistook  me  for  a  fireman  off  one  of  the  ships,  but 
soon  welcomed  me  with  enthusiasm.  I  bought  clothes,  I 
washed,  I  sat  down  to  dinner  with  a  real  tablecloth  and 
real  glasses,  and  fortune,  determined  not  to  overlook  the 
smallest  detail,  had  arranged  that  the  steamer  Induna 
should  leave  that  night  for  Durban. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 
BATTLE  OF  SPION  KOP. 

General  Warren's  Division  Makes  a  Gallant  Charge  and  Captures  the  Hill, 

but  is  Driven  Out  by  Boer  Artillery — Buller  is  Forced 

to  Retreat  across  the  Tugela. 

I  HE  NEXT  attempt  of  General  Buller  to  cross 
the  Tugela  River  was  successful,  but  the  suc- 
cess was  short  lived,  resulting  in  one  of  the 
heaviest  engagements  of  the  war  with  severe 
loss  to  the  British  side  and  the  disastrous  retreat  of 
Buller's  army  back  to  the  south  side  of  the  river  and 
to  some  distance  beyond. 

The  actual  advance  began  on  January  lo,  at  which 
time  General  Buller  permitted  false  rumors  to  spread  in 
order  to  cover  his  real  intentions.  The  crossing  was 
made  in  the  vicinity  of  Springfield  and  was  attended  by 
few  casualties.  The  British  plans  for  once  were  well 
guarded  and  the  Boers  were  taken  completely  by  sur- 
prise. 

General  Buller  divided  his  force  into  four  columns. 
General  Dundonald,  with  a  mounted  brigade,  was  sent  to 
take  the  bridge  over  the  Tugela  at  Springfield.  This 
was  accomplished  by  a  sudden  movement,  after  which 
Dundonald  took  a  strong  position  at  Zwart  Kop,  which 
commands  Potgieter's  Drift. 

The  Boers,  misled  by  Buller's  wild  rumors,  were  un- 
prepared at  this  point,  and  large  numbers  of  them  were 

360 


BATTLE   OF  SPION  KOP.  363 

enjoying  a   bath   in   the  river  when  Dundonald  and  his 
force  appeared. 

As  soon  as  General  Buller  had  been  notified  of  Dun- 
donald's  success,  General  Lyttleton's  brigade  was  sent  to 
hold  a  position  at  Zwart  Kop,  and  at  the  same  time  Hil- 
yard's  brigade  was  dispatched  from  Springfield  to  hold 
the  bridge  and  to  protect  the  passage  of  the  other 
troops. 

A  ferryboat  reported  to  have  been  captured  by  Gen- 
eral Buller  a  week  before  was  on  the  wrong  side  of  the 
river  when  General  Dundonald's  force  arrived,  and  Lieu- 
tenant Carlyle  and  five  members  of  the  South  African 
Light  Horse  swam  the  stream  and  brought  it  back. 

•  During  all  these  movements  in  the  vicinity  of  Spring- 
field General  Warren's  division  threatened  to  attack  the 
Boers'  left  flank,  and  finally  did  so. 

General  Buller,  having  seized  the  heights  commanding 
Potgieter's  Drift,  occupied  virtually  the  bridge  head. 
Across  the  Tugela  he  found  the  Boers  in  a  strong  horse- 
shoe position.  Warren  was  sent  to  turn  the  Boer  right 
resting  on  Spion  Kop. 

On  the  17th  Warren's  right,  marching  from  Spring- 
field, threw  two  bridges  across  the  Tugela  at  Trichard's 
Drift,  where  the  Boers  were  extended  to  face  a  new 
attack  on  their  position,  running  two  lines  along  the 
edge  and  crest  of  a  lofty  plateau,  strongly  fortified,  but 
approachable  by  long  depressions  in  the  ground  and 
dongas  sloping  gradually  from  the  river.  On  the  i8th 
Warren  crawled  forward  two  miles  up  these  dongas.  Lord 
Dundonald's  cavalry  moved  westward,  threatening  the 
Boer  right. 

The  Boers  endeavored  to  prevent  the  turning  move- 
ment,   but  were  ambuscaded  and  roughly  handled  in  a 


364  BATTLE   OF  SPION  KOP. 

brilliant  little  action,  with  squadrons  of  the  Natal  Car- 
bineers, Imperial  Horse,  and  South  African  Light  Horse, 
they  losing  forty-two  beside  the  wounded,  who  were 
removed  to  the  British  camp. 

The  Boer  commander  greatly  strengthened  and  ex- 
tended his  right,  weakening  his  center.  On  the  19th  the 
British  demonstrated  at  Potgieter's  Drift,  bombarding 
heavily,  and  Warren  crept  forward,  also  shelling.  The 
cavalry  held  its  ground,  threatening  the  Boer  right  and 
compromising  one  line  of  retreat  to  the  Free  State. 

On  the  20th,  General  Warren  began  a  series  of 
actions  called  the  battle  of  Spion  Kop.  He  advanced, 
covered  by  guns  firing  3,000  shells,  fighting  gloriously. 
He  effected  a  dislodgment  of  the  Boers  at  several  points 
along  the  edge  of  the  plateau. 

Warren's  men  intrenched  at  nightfall.  Dundonald's 
cavalry  on  the  British  left  demonstrated  against  the  hills. 
Child's  squadron  of  South  African  lighters  actually  seiz- 
ing a  conspicuous  salient  peak,  hereinafter  called  Bastian 
Hill.  This  gallant  officer  was  killed  by  a  shell  while 
holding  the  captured  position. 

In  the  evening  the  infantry  reinforcements  took 
charge  of  the  day's  advance  by  Dundonald,  firing  all 
night. 

On  the  2ist,  Warren's  left  moved  up  to  the  reentrant 
of  East  Bastian  Hill,  which  opened  a  cleft  in  the  Boer 
line,  his  object  now  being  no  longer  to  turn  the  unduly 
extended  Boer  right,  but  by  introducing  a  wedge  of  in- 
fantry into  the  cleft  to  split  the  right  from  the  center. 

During  the  day  the  gap  was  widened,  and  Warren's 
right  completed  the  capture  of  the  whole  of  the  edge  of 
the  plateau,  occupying  the  first  line  of  Boer  trenches,  and 
finding  many  dead,  about  200,  from  shell  fire. 


BATTLE   OF  SPIOX  KOP.  365 

The  main  Boer  position,  however,  was  still  intact. 

The  flanking  movement  that  ended  at  Spion  Kop  and 
the  subsequent  retreat  of  Buller  were  directed  with  a 
view  to  turning  the  right  of  the  Boer  position  on  the  west 
of  Ladysmith.  About  25,000  men  were  sent  by  General 
Buller  on  this  detour  to  the  west,  while  an  assault  on  the 
positions  of  the  Boers  in  front  at  Colenso  was  said  to  be 
part  of  the  plan. 

The  expedition  was  accompanied  by  naval  guns  and 
howitzers  in  addition  to  rapid-firing  and  field  pieces,  and 
5.000  vehicles  carrying  commissary  and  quartermasters' 
stores. 

General  Warren  was  chief  in  command,  and  his  own 
division  numbered  between  12,000  and  15,000  men. 
Lyttleton's  brigade  consisted  of  5,000  men,  and  Barton 
had  between  4,000  and  5,000  men.  The  fourth  brigade 
contained  4,000  men,  and  Dundonald's  cavalry  and 
mounted  infantry  force  numbered  2,500. 

General  Warren  reached  Spearman's  Farm  on  January 
II,  Dundonald's  mounted  brigade  proceeded  to  Zwart 
Kop  and  took  a  position  commanding  Potgieter's  Drift. 
This  drift  in  the  Tugela  River  was  selected  as  the  fording 
place,  twelve  miles  west  of  Colenso. 

Hilyard's'  brigade  reached  Springfield  and  captured 
the  bridge  over  the  Little  Tugela. 

General  Lyttleton's  brigade  reached  Potgieter's  Drift 
on  January  12,  and  after  waiting  four  days  crossed  the- 
river  on  January  16  and  seized  a  row  of  hills  one  mile 
beyond  the  river.  That  night  the  howitzers  were  ferried 
across  the  river. 

With  the  main  body  of  the  flanking  force  General 
Warren  moved  six  miles  farther  west  and  crossed  the 
Tugela  at  Wagon  Drift.     After  crossing  the  river  War- 


366  BATTLE   OF  SPION  KOP. 

ren  advanced  two  miles  and  occupied  the  heights  near 
Spion  Kop. 

Dundonald's  mounted  brigade  made  a  wider  detour 
and  found  fighting  all  along  the  way  of  its  advance.  On 
January  19  it  was  reported  that  Dundonald  had  advanced 
to  within  twelve  miles  of  Ladysmith.  The  next  day 
Warren  advanced  three  miles,  clearing  the  way  as  he 
advanced  with  shell  fire. 

On  January  23  the  fighting. in  front  of  Warren  became 
so  heavy  that  he  advanced  only  1,000  yards. 

General  Bulier  announced  an  attack  would  be  made 
that  night  on  Spion  Kop,  as  the  height  had  considerable 
command  over  all  the  enemy's  line. 

About  2  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  January  24 
(Wednesday),  when  heavy  clouds  rested  upon  the  kop- 
jes, the  main  point  of  the  Boer  position,  Tabanyama,  was 
stormed  by  the  British  infantry  under  General  Woodgate. 
The  British  force  crossed  over  a  ravine  and  climbed  the 
mountainside  steadily,  getting  within  thirty  yards  of  the 
enemy's  first  line  of  trenches. 

The  Boers,  who  had  been  asleep,  decamped,  leaving 
everything  behind,  and  the  British,  with  a  ringing  cheer, 
climbed  to  the  summit. 

The  Boers  opened  fire  from  several  points,  but  it  was 
apparent  that  they  had  been  taken  completely  by  sur- 
prise, and  their  resistance  was  dispirited.  The  western 
crest  of  the  hill  was  soon  won,  and  the  infantry  crept 
along  the  top  of  the  hill. 

At  daybreak,  however,  the  Boers,  from  a  high  point 
on  the  extreme  east,  sent  a  withering  fire  among  the 
British  which  momentarily  staggered  them. 

The  Boers  had  the  range  fixed  to  a  nicety,  and  their 
artillery  sent  several  shells  right  to  the  top  of  the  crest, 


BATTLE  OF  SPION  KOP.  367 

forcing  the. infantry  to  take  cover.  A  Boer  Nordenfeldt 
also  was  worked  with  great  precision. 

The  British  held  the  position  against  great  odds.  At 
10  o'clock  strong  reinforcements  were  sent  up  the  hill  and 
advanced  in  skeleton  formation,  the  Boers 'being  driven 
back  to  the  extreme  point. 

General  Warren  was  subjected  to  a  hot  fire  from  the 
Boer  positions  that  formed  a  semicircle  on  the  east  of 
Spion  Kop.  General  Buller  announced  that  Warren  was 
heavily  attacked  on  January  24,  and  that  his  casualties 
were  considerable.  General  Woodgate,  who  commanded 
the  British  forces  on  the  summit  of  Spion  Kop,  was 
mortally  wounded,  and  on  January  25  the  British  troops 
were  forced  from  the  kop  by  assault. 

At  6  o'clock  the  morning  of  January  25  the  retreat 
across  the  Tugela  was  begun.  Two  days  later  the  entire 
force  under  General  Warren's  command  was  again  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Tugela. 

The  fighting,  both  before  and  after  the  occupation  of 
the  mountain,  was  of  a  desperate  character.  Spion  Kop 
is  a  precipitous  mountain  overtopping  the  whole  line  of 
kopjes  along  the  Upper  Tugela.  On  the  eastern  side  the 
mountain  faces  Mount  Alice  and  Potgieter's  Drift,  stand- 
ing at  right  angles  to  the  Boer  central  position  and  Lyt- 
tleton's  advanced  position. 

The  southern  point  descends  in  abrupt  steps  to  the 
lower  line  of  kopjes.  On  the  western  side,  opposite  the 
right  outposts  of  Warren's  force,  it  is  inaccessibly  steep 
until  the  point  where  the  nek  joins  the  kop  to  the  main 
range.  Then  there  is  a  gentle  slope  which  allows  easy 
access  to  the  summit. 

The  nek  was  strongly  held  by  the  Boers,  who  also 
occupied  a  heavy  spur  parallel  with  the  kopje  where  the 


368  BATTLE   OF  SPION  KOP. 

enemy  was  concealed  in  no  fewer  than  thirty-five  rifle 
pits  and  was  thus  enabled  to  bring  to  bear  upon  our  men 
a  damaging  cross  fire,  the  only  possible  point  for  a  British 
attack  being  the  southern  side,  with  virtually  sheer  preci- 
pices on  the  feft  and  right. 

A  narrow  footpath,  -admitting  men  in  single  file  only 
to  the  summit,  opens  into  a  perfectly  flat  tableland,  prob- 
ably of  300  square  yards  area,  upon  which  the  Boers  had 
hastily  commenced  to  make  a  transverse  trench.  The 
British  were  able  to  occupy  the  further  end  of  this  tabje- 
land,  where  the  ridge  descended  to  another  flat,  which 
was  again  succeeded  by  a  round,  stony  eminence  held  by 
the  Boers  in  great  strength. 

The  ridge  held  by  the  British  was  faced  by  a 
number  of  strong  little  kopjes  at  all  angles,  whence  the 
Boers  sent  a  concentrated  fire  from  their  rifles,  supported 
by  a  Maxim-Nordenfeldt  and  a  big  long-range  gun. 

The  shells  exploded  continually  in  the  British  ranks, 
and  the  rifle  fire,  from  an  absolutely  unseen  enemy,  was 
perfectly  appalling. 

Reinforcements  were  hurried  up  by  General  Warren, 
but  they  had  to  cross  a  stretch  of  flat  ground  which  was 
literally  torn  up  by  the  flying  lead  of  the  Boers.  The 
unfinished  trench  on  the  summit  gave  questionable  shelter, 
as  the  Boers'  machine  guns  were  so  accurately  trained 
upon  the  place  that  as  many  as  sixteen  shells  fell  in  the 
trench  in  a  single  minute. 

Mortal  men  could  not  permanently  hold  such  a  position. 
The  British  held  it  tenaciously  for  twenty-four  hours,  and 
then,  taking  advantage  of  the  dark  night,  abandoned  it  to 
the  enemy. 

The  battle-field  is  full  of  historical  significance.  Spion 
Kop  was  a  hill  from  which  the  Boer  trekkers,  after  cross- 


BATTLE   OF  SPION  KOP.  369 

ing  the  Drakensberg  Mountains,  spied  out  the  then 
barbaric  Natal  and  found  it  fair  in  their  eyes. 

It  developed  that  Colonel  Thorneycroft  was  the  officer 
who  ordered  the  retirement  from  Spion  Kop.  Referring 
to  that  fact,  General  Buller  reported  as  follows  : 

"It  is  due  to  him  to  say  that  I  believe  his  personal 
gallantry  saved  a  difficult  situation  early  January  24,  and 
that  under  a  loss  of  at  least  40  per  cent,  he  directed  the 
defense  with  conspicuous  courage  and  ability  throughout 
the  day.  No  blame  whatever  for  the  withdrawal  is,  in 
my  opinion,  attributable  to  him,  and  I  think  his  conduct 
throughout  was  admirable." 

Mr.  Winston  Churchill,  in  his  description  of  the  bat- 
tle, also  justifies  Thorneycroft's  retirement.     He  says  : 

"The  fight  on  the  summit  of  the  kop  was  one  of  the 
most  fierce  and  furious  conflicts  in  British  military  history. 
Guided  by  Thorneycroft,  the  troops  surprised  the  Boers 
there,  and  carried  the  trenches  with  the  bayonet  at  3 
o'clock  in  the  morning.     There  was  little  loss. 

' '  At  once  the  troops  intrenched  hastily,  but  the  ground 
was  broken  by  large  rocks  and  unsuited  forintrenchments. 
At  dawn  heavy  Boer  shelling  began.  General  Woodgate 
was  seriously  wounded  at  the  beginning.  Urgent  demands 
for  reinforcements  were  sent  by  the  commander  who 
succeeded  Woodgate.  The  reinforcements  were  sent, 
strengthening  the  defense. 

"Thorneycroft  was  appointed  brigadier,  commanding 
the  whole  force  on  top  of  the  hill.  A  bitter  and  bloody 
struggle  followed  throughout  the  day,  the  Boers  concen- 
trating every  man  and  gun  on  the  summit  of  the  hill  and 
attacking  with  the  greatest  spirit. 

' '  The  British  artillery  was  unable  to  cope  with  the 
superior  long-range  Boer  guns,  and  during  the  afternoon 


370  BATTLE   OF  SPION  KOP. 

it  became  evident  the  infantry  could  not  endure  another 
day.  It  was  impossible  to  drag,  guns  to  the  summit  of 
Spion  Kop  without  elaborate  preparations,  or  to  fortify  the 
hill  strong  enough  to  protect  the  defenders  from  unassailed 
artillery.  Therefore  Thorneycroft'c  decision  to  abandon 
it  was  both  wise  and  necessary. 

"The  troops,  still  stubborn  and  formidable,  marched 
back  to  the  camps  in'  regular  order.  Every  effort  is  now 
being  made  to  succor  the  wounded,  of  whom  many  still 
lie  on  the  summit.     The  official  lists  will  give  the  losses. 

' '  The  defense  of  the  hill  by  the  English  infantry,  par- 
ticularly the  Lancashire  regiments,  was  a  glorious  episode. 
The  whole  army  is  proud  of  it. 

' '  The  Boer  positions  before  Ladysmith  are  perhaps 
impregnable  to  25,000  men,  but  the  troops  are  resolved 
to  have  another  try.  The  public  must  imitate  the  equa- 
nimity of  the  troops. 

* '  Spion  Kop  is  not  a  disaster.  Neither  guns  were  lost 
nor  unwounded  prisoners  made.  It  was  simply  a  bloody 
action  in  which  lodgment  in  the  enemy's  intrenchments 
was  effected,  but  which  proved  untenable. 

"The  Boers  were  sometimes  within  thirty  yards  of 
the  British  line. " 


BULLERS    STORY    OF    DISASTER. 

Following  is  the  text  of  General  Buller's  dispatch, 
dated  Spearman's  Camp,  Saturday,  January  27,  6:10 
p.  M. : 

"On  January  20  Warren  drove  back  the  enemy  and 
obtained  possession  of  the  southern  crests  of  the  high 
tableland  extending  from  the  line  of  Acton  Homes  arid 


WEMMER   GOLD    MINE    SURFACE    WORKS. 


PRECIPITATION    HOUSE,  SIMMER    AND   JACK    MINE,  JOHANNESBURG. 


BATTLE   OF  SPION  KOP.  371 

Honger's  Poort  to  the  western  Ladysmith  hills.  From 
then  to  January  25  he  remained  in  close  contact  with  the 
enemy. 

"The  enemy  held  a  strong  position  on  a  range  of 
small  kopjes  stretching  from  northwest  to  southeast  across 
the  plateau  from  Acton  Homes,  through  Spion  Kop  to  the 
left  bank  of  the  Tugela. 

"The  actual  position  held  was  perfectly  tenable,  but 
did  not  lend  itself  to  an  advance,  as  the  southern  slopes 
were  so  steep  that  Warren  could  not  get  an  effective  ar- 
tillery position,  and  water  supply  was  a  difficulty. 

"On  January  23  I  assented  to  his  attacking  Spion 
Kop,  a  large  hill — indeed,  a  mountain — which  was  evi- 
dently the  key  of  the  position,  but  was  far  more  accessible 
from  the  north  than  from  the  south. 

"On  the  night  of  January  23  he  attacked  Spion  Kop, 
but  found  it  difficult  to  hold,  as  its  perimeter  was  too 
large,  and  water,  which  he  had  been  led  to  believe  ex- 
isted, in  this  extraordinarily  dry  season  was  found  deficient. 

' '  The  crests  were  held  all  that  day  against  severe  at- 
tacks and  a  heavy  shell  fire. 

' '  Our  men  fought  with  great  gallantry.  I  would  es- 
pecially mention  the  conduct  of  the  Second  Cameronians 
and  the  Third  King's  Rifles,  who  supported  the  attack  on 
the  mountain  from  the  steepest  side,  and  in  each  case 
fought  their  way  to  the  top,  and  the  Second  Lancashire 
Fusiliers  and  Second  Middlesex,  who  magnificently  main- 
tained the  best  traditions  of  the  British  army  throughout 
the  trying  day  of  January  24,  and  Thorneycroft 's  mounted 
infantry,  who  fought  throughout  the  day  equally  well 
alongside  of  them. 

"General  Woodgate,  who  was  in  command  at  the 
summit,  having  been  wounded,  the  officer  who  succeeded 


372  BATTLE   OF  SPION  KOP. 

him  decided  on  the  night  of  January  24  to  abandon  the 
position,  and  did  so  before  dawn  January  25. 

"I  reached  Warren's  camp  at  5  a.  m.  on  January  25 
and  decided  that  a  second  attack  upon  Spion  Kop  was 
useless,  and  that  the  enemy's  right  was  too  strong  to  allow 
me  to  force  it. 

"Accordingly  I  decided  to  withdraw  the  force  to  the 
south  of  the  Tugela.  At  6  a.  m.  we  commenced  with- 
drawing the  train,  and  by  8  a.  m.,  January  27  (Saturday), 
Warren's  force  was  concentrated  south  of  the  Tugela 
without  the  loss  of  a  man  or  a  pound  of  stores. 

"The  fact  that  the  force  could  withdraw  from  actual 
touch — in  some  cases  the  lines  were  less  than  1,000 
yards  apart — with  the  enemy  in  the  manner  it  did,  is,  I 
think,  sufficient  evidence  of  the  morale  of  the  troops,  and 
that  we  were  permitted  to  withdraw  our  cumbrous  ox  and 
mule  transport  across  the  river,  eighty-five  yards  broad, 
with  twenty-foot  banks,  and  a  swift  current,  unmolested, 
is,  I  think,  proof  that  the  enemy  has  been  taught  to 
respect  our  soldiers'  fighting  power. " 

BOER    STORY    OF    SPION    KOP    FIGHT. 

Boer  Headquarters,  Modder  Spruit,  Upper  Tugela,' 
Wednesday,  January  24,  midnight,  via  Lorenzo  Mar- 
quez,  Thursday,  January  25. — Some  Vryheid  burghers 
from  the  outposts  on  the  highest  hills  of  the  Spion  Kop 
group  rushed  into  the  laager,  saying  the  kop  was  lost, 
and  that  the  English  had  taken  it.  Reinforcements  were 
ordered  up,  but  nothing  could  be  done  for  some  time,  the 
hill  being  enveloped  in  thick  mist. 

At  dawn  the  Heidelberg  and  Carolina  contingents, 
supplemented  from  other  commandos,  began  the  ascent 


BATTLE  OF  SPION  KOP.  373 

of  the  hill.  Three  spurs,  precipitous  projections,  faced 
the  Boer  positions.  Upon  these  the  advance  was  made. 
The  horses  were  left  under  the  first  terrace  of  rocks. 

Scaling  the  steep  hill,  the  Boers  found  that  the  Eng- 
lish had  improved  the  opportunity  and  intrenched  heavily. 
Between  the  lines  of  trenches  was  an  open  veldt,  which 
had  to  be  rushed  under  a  heavy  fire,  not  only  from  rifles 
but  of  lyddite  and  shrapnel  from  field  guns. 

Three  forces  ascended  the  three  spurs  coOrdinately, 
under  cover  of  fire  from  the  Free  State  Krupps,  a  Creusot, 
and  a  big  Maxim.  The  English  tried  to  rush  the  Boers 
with  the  bayonet,  but  their  infantry  went  down  before 
the  Boer  rifie  fire  as  before  a  scythe. 

The  Boer  investing  party  advanced  step  by  step  until 
two  in  the  afternoon,  when  a  white  flag  went  up,  and  1 50 
men  in  the  front  trenches  surrendered,  being  sent  as 
prisoners  to  the  head  laager. 

The  Boer  advance  continued  on  the  two  kopjes  east 
of  Spion  Kop.  Many  Boers  were  shot,  but  so  numerous 
were  the  burghers  that  the  gaps  filled  automatically. 
Toward  twilight  they  reached  the  summit  of  the  second 
kopje,  but  did  not  get  further. 

The  British  Maxims  belched  flame,  but  a  wall  of  fire 
from  the  Mausers  held  the  English  back.  Their  center, 
under  this  pressure,  gradually  gave  way  and  broke, 
abandoning  the  position. 

The  prisoners  speak  highly  of  the  bravery  of  the 
burghers,  who,  despising  cover,  stood  against  the  sky  line 
edges  of  the  summit  to  shoot  the  Dublin  Fusiliers,  shel- 
tered in  the  trenches. 

Firing  continued  for  some  time,  and  then  the  Fusiliers 
and  the  Light  Horse,  serving  as  infantry,  threw  up  their 
arms  and  rushed  out  of  the  trenches. 


374  BA  TTLE   OF  SPION  KOP, 

The  effect  of  the  abandonment  of  Spion  Kop  by  the 
English  can  hardly  be  gauged  as  yet,  but  it  must  prove 
to  be  immense. 

The  Boer  casualties  were  53  killed  and  120  wounded. 
British  losses  from  the  crossing  of  the  Tugela  to  the 
abandonment  of  Spion  Cop  were  1,958. 


TD 


CHAPTER  XXIX.  , 
SAD  PICTURES  AFTER  THE  BATTLE    OF    MAGERSFONTEIN. 

Burial  of  General  Wauchope,  the  Leader  of  the  Famous  Black  Watch — Some 
Thrilling  Incidents  of  the  Fight  in  which  he  Fell. 

NE  OF  the  most  pathetic,  yet  withal,  most  impress- 
ive and  dramatic  pictures  of  the  war  was  that 
presented  by  the  famous  Highland  brigade,  or 
rather  the  torn  and  bleeding  remnant  of  it  after 
it  had  emerged  from  the  death  trap  set  by  Cronje. 

Three  hundred  yards  to  the  rear  of  the  little  township 
of  Modder  River,  just  as  the  sun  was  sinking  in  a  bright 
blaze  of  African  splendor,  on  the  evening  of  Tuesday,  the 
1 2  th  of  December,  along,  shallow  grave  lay  exposed  in  the 
breast  of  the  veldt.  To  the  west  the  broad  river,  fringed 
with  trees,  could  be  seen  in  the  fading  twilight;  to  the 
eastward  the  heights,  still  held  by  the  Boers,  scowled 
menacingly;  while  north  and  south  the  silence  of  the 
undulating  veldt  betokened  peace, 

A  few  paces  to  the  northward  of  that  grave,  fifty  dead 
Highlanders  lay,  dressed  as  they  had  fallen  on  the  field  of 
battle.  They  had  followed  their  chief  to  the  field,  and 
they  were  to  follow  him  to  the  grave.  How  grim  and 
stern  those  men  looked  as  they  lay  face  upward  to  the 
sky,  with  great  hands  clenched  in  the  last  death  agony, 
and  brows  still  knitted  with  the  stern  lust  of  the  strife  in 
which  they  had  fallen ! 

375 


376  SAD  PICTURES  AFTER    THE  BATTLE. 

The  plaids  dear  to  every  Highland  clan  were  'repre- 
sented there,  and  as  I  looked,  out  of  the  distance*  came 
ilie  sound  of  the  pipes;  it  was  the  General  coming  to 
join  his  men. 

There,  right  under  the  eyes  of  the  enemy,  moved  with 
slow  and  solemn  tread  all  that  remained  of  the  Highland 
brigade,  the  "Black  Watch."  In' front  of  them  walked 
the  chaplain  with  bared  head,  dressed  in  his  robes  of  office; 
then  came  the  pipers,  sixteen  in  all;  and  behind  them 
with  arms  reversed  moved  the  Highlanders,  dressed  in  all 
the  regalia  of  their  regiments,  and  in  their  midst  the  dead 
General,  borne  by  four  of  his  comrades. 

Out  swelled  the  pipes  to  the  strains  of  "Flowers  of  the 
Forest,"  now  ringing  proud  and  high  until  the  soldiers' 
heads  went  back  in  haughty  defiance,  and  eyes  flashed 
through  tears  like  sunlight  on  steel;  now  sinking  to  a 
moaning  wail  like  a  woman  mourning  her  first-born,  until 
the  proud  heads  drooped  forward  till  they  rested  on 
heaving  chests,  and  tears  rolled  down  the  wan  and  scarred 
faces,  and  the  choking  sobs  broke  through  the  solemn 
rhythm  of  the  march  of  death.  Right  up  to  the  grave 
they  marched,  then  broke  away  in  companies,  until  the 
General  lay  in  the  shallow  grave,  with  a  Scottish  square 
of  armed  men  around  him.  Only  the  dead  man's  son  and 
a  small  remnant  of  his  officers  stood  with  the  chaplain 
and  the  pipers,  while  the  solemn  services  of  the  church 
were  spoken. 

Then  once  again  the  pipes  pearfed  out.  "Lochaber  No 
More  "  cut  through  the  stillness  like  a  cry  of  pain,  until 
one  could  almost  hear  the  widow  in  her  Highland  home 
moaning  for  the  soldier  she  would  welcome  back  no  more. 
Then,  as  if  touched  by  the  magic  of  the  thought,  the 
soldiers  turned  their  tear-damp  eyes  from  the  still  form 


SAD  PICTURES  AFTER   THE  BATTLE.  377 

in  the  shallow  grave  toward  the  heights  where  Cronje, 
the  ' '  Lion  of  Africa, "  and  his  soldiers  stood. 

Then  every  cheek  flushed  crimson,  and  the  strong 
jaws  set  like  steel,  and  the  veins  on  the  hands  that  clasp 
the  rifle  handles  swelled  almost  to  bursting  with  the  fervor 
of  the  grip,  and  that  look  from  those  silent,  armed  men 
spoke  more  eloquently  than  ever  spoke  the  tongues  of 
orators. 

For  on  each  frowning  face  the  spirit  of  vengeance 
sat,  and  each  sparkling  eye  asked  silently  for  blood. 

At  the  head  of  the  grave,  at  the  point  nearest  the 
enemy,  the  General  was  laid  to  sleep,  his  officers  grouped 
around  him,  while  in  line  behind  him  his  soldiers  were 
laid  in  a  double  row,  wrapped  in  their  blankets.  No  shots 
were  fired  over  the  dead  men  resting  so  peacefully. 
Only  the  salute  was  given  and  then  the  men  marched 
campward  as  the  darkness  of  an  African  night  rolled  over 
the  far-stretching  breadth  of  the  veldt. 

To  the  gentlewoman  who  bears  the  General's  name 
the  Highland  Brigade  sent  their  deepest  sympathy.  To 
the  members  and  the  wives,  the  sisters  and  the  sweet- 
hearts in  the  cottage  home  by  hillside  and  glen  they  sent 
their  love  and  good  wishes.  Yet,  enshrined  in  every 
womanly  heart,  from  Queen  Empress  to  cottage  girl, 
let  their  memory  lie,  the  memory  of  the  men  of  the 
Piighland  Brigade  who  died  at  Magersfontein. 

Thus  it  was  that  disaster  overtook  the  Highlanders: 

During  the  night  it  was  considered  expedient  that  the 
Highland  Brigade,  about  4,000  strong,  under  General 
Wauchope,"  should  get  close  enough  to  the  lines  of  the  foe 
to  make  it  possible  to  charge  the  heights. 

The  brigade  marched  in  line  of  quarter  column,  each 
man  stepping  cautiously  and  slowly,  for  they  knew  that 


378  SAD  PICTURES  AFTER   THE  BATTLE. 

any  sound  meant  death.  Every  order  was  given  in  a 
hoarse  whisper,  and  in  whispers  it  was  passed  along  the 
ranks  from  man- to  man.  Nothing  was  heard  as  they 
moved  toward  the  gloomy,  steel-fronted  heights  but  the 
brushing  of  their  feet  in  the  veldt  grass  and  the  deep 
drawn  breaths  of  the  marching  men. 

So  onward  until  three  o£  the  clock  on  the  morning  of 
Monday.  Then  out  of  the  darkness  a  rifle  rang,  sharp 
and  clear,  a  herald  of  disaster — a  soldier  had  tripped  in 
the  dark  over  the  hidden  wires  laid  down  by  the  enemy. 
In  a  second,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  the  searchlights  of 
the  Boers  fell  broad  and  clear  as  the  noonday  sun  on  the 
ranks  of  the  doomed  Highlanders,  though  it  left  the  enemy 
concealed  in  the  shadows  of  the  frowning  mass  of  hills 
behind  them. 

For  one  brief  moment  the  Scots  seemed  paralyzed  by 
the  suddenness  of  their  discovery,  for  they  knew  that  they 
were  huddled  together  like  sheep  within  fifty  yards  of 
the  trenches  of  the  enemy. 

Then,  clear  above  the  confusion,  rolled  the  voice  of 
the  General — "Steady,  men,  steady" — and  like  an  echo  to 
the  veterans  out  came  the  crash  of  nearly  a  thousand  rifles 
not  fifty  paces  from  them. 

The  Highlanders  reeled  before  the  spook-like  trees 
before  them.  The  best,  their  bravest,  fell  in  that  wild 
hail  of  lead.  General  Wauchope  was  down,  riddled  with 
bullets,  yet,  gasping,  dying,  bleeding  from  every  vein,  the 
Highland  chieftain  raised  himself  on  his  hands  and  knees 
and  cheered  his  men  forward. 

Men  and  officers  fell  in  heaps  together.  The  Black 
Watch  charged,  and  the  Gordons  and  the  Seaforths,  with 
a  yell  that  stirred  the  British  camp  below,  rushed  onward 
— onward  to  death  or  disaster.     The  wires  caught  them 


THE  BOERS  ARE  COMINQ. 


DEATH  OF  GENERAL  SIMONS. 


SAD  PICTURES  AFTER    THE  BATTLE.  381 

round  the  legs  until  they  floundered  like  trapped  wolves, 
and  all  the  time  the  rifles  of  the  foe  sang  the  song  of  death 
in  their  ears. 

All  that  mortal  men  could  do  the  Scots  did;  they  tried, 
they  failed,  they  fell. 

All  that  fateful  day  the  British  lay  close  to  the  Boer 
lines  under  a  blazing  sun  ;  over  their  heads  the  shots  of 
friends  and  foes  passed  without  ceasing.  All  day  long 
the  battle  raged.  Scarcely  could  they  see  the  foe — all 
that  met  their  eyes  was  the  rocky  heights  that  spoke  with 
tongue  of  flames  whenever  the  troops  drew  near. 

Once  the  guards  made  a  brilliant  dash  at  the  trenches, 
and  like  a  torrent  their  resistless  valor  bore  all  before 
them,  and  for  a  few  brief  moments  they  got  within  hitting 
distance  of  the  foe. 

Well  did  they  avenge  the  slaughter  of  the  Scots  ;  the 
bayonets,  like  tongues  of  flame,  passed  above  or  below 
the  rifle's  guard  and  swept  through,  brisket  and  breast- 
bone. Out  of  their  trenches  the  guardsmen  tossed  the 
Boers  as  men  in  English  harvest  fields  toss  the  hay  when 
the  reapers'  scythes  have  whitened  the  cornfields,  and  the 
human  streams  were  plentiful  where  the  British  guards- 
men stood. 

Then  they  fell  back,  for  the  fire  from  the  heights  above 
them  fell  thick  as  the  spume  of  the  surf  on  an  Australian 
rock-ribbed  coast. 

In  vain  all  that  day  Methuen  tried  by  every  rule  he 
knew  to  draw  the  enemy.  Vainly  the  lancers  rode  reck- 
lessly to  induce  those  human  rock  limits  to  come  out  and 
cut  them  off".  Cronje  knew  the  metal  of  the  men,  and  an 
ironic  laugh  played  around  his  iron  mouth,  and  still  he 
staid  within  his  native  fastnesses.  But  death  sat  ever  at 
his  elbow,  for  British  gunners  dropped  the  lyddite  shells 


382         SAD  PICTURES  AFTER    THE  BATTLE. 

and  the  howling  shrapnel    all  along  his  lines,   until  the 
trenches  ran  blood  and  many  of  his  guns  were  silenced. 

Frederick  Villiers,  that  most  famous  of  all  war  cor- 
respondents, has  a  beautiful  and  touching  description  of 
the  scene  depicted  in  the  foregoing.  Among  other  things 
he  says  that  "the  Crown  and  Royal  Hotel,  when  I  re- 
turned from  the  battlefield  to  Modder  River,  had  never 
before  in  the  short  period  of  its  existence  seen  so  many 
visitors  thronging  its  corridors,  outhouses,  or  closely  nursing 
the  shade  of  its  verandas.  Now  it  was  a  veritable  Hotel 
Dieu,  for  its  present  patrons  were  the  survivors  of  the 
wreck  of  the  Highland  Brigade,  and  a  more  battered  and 
bloody  crew  I  have  seldom  seen.  The  ambulance  carts, 
with  their  smart  teams  of  six  or  ten  mules,  were  trotting 
up  with  their  sorry  burdens  till  late  in  the  night.  By  the 
light  of  the  moon  strong  alms,  with  almost  feminine  ten- 
derness, stretched  out  to  receive  the  maimed,  suffering 
and  exhausted  travelers,  who,  stricken  down  at  dawn,  had 
lain  patiently  under  the  torrid  sun  all  day,  hardly  daring 
to  stir  to  raise  their  water  bottles  till  darkness  came,  for 
the  vigilant,  remorseless  foe,  safe  and  snug  behind  his 
cover  of  rock,  fired  on  all  that  moved.  There  was  no 
classification  of  the  wounded  that  night;  men  lay  shoulder 
to  shoulder.  A  reverend  father  was  soothing  the  last 
moments  of  one  poor  fellow,  while  the  surgeon  was  trying 
to  save  the  life  of  his  immediate  neighbor. 

' '  The  breath  of  the  night  was  sweet  and  cool  after  the 
feverish  turmoil  of  the  day.  The  slightly  wounded  stood 
in  groups  nursing  their  maimed  hands  and  arms,  swathed 
in  bandages,  while  they  whispered  over  the  terrible  events 
of  the  morning,  and  wondered  why  they  had  been  led 
into  that  veritable  death  trap  at  Magersfontein,  and 
hoped  that  their  beloved  leader  was  still  alive,  for  there 


SAD  PICTURES  AFTER    THE  BATTLE.  383 

had  been  no  news  of  General  Wauchope  since  he  dashed 
forward  into  the  jaws  of  death  at  break  of  day.  I  never 
felt  so  proud  of  being  a  Britisher,  and  claiming  the  same 
nationality  of  those  brave  warriors,  as  on  that  memor- 
able night  after  the  battle.  There  was  hardly  a  murmur 
or  a  sign  from  their  feverish,  tortured  bodies  ;  and,  if  a 
man  could  speak,  it  was  always  in  a  cheery,  hopeful  strain, 
his  sole  wish  being  to  pull  trigger  and  use  bayonet  again. 
One  young  trumpeter,  with  a  face  molded  and  colored 
like  that  of  a  beautiful  girl,  had  a  curious  experience  for 
his  baptism  of  fire  when  the  brigade  was  about  to  break 
under  the  terrible  cross  fire.  A  young  officer,  not  of  his 
own  regiment,  ran  up,  and  asking  him  whether  he  was 
game  to  follow,  ordered  him  to  sound  the  charge.  A 
group  of  men  readily  responded  to  the  call.  They  ran 
forward  a  few  yards,  when  the  plucky  young  officer  was 
shot.  He  then  stumbled  and  fell  headlong  into  a  trench. 
Three  Boers  grabbed  him  and  took  him  prisoner,  when 
two  Highlanders  dashed  in,  bayoneted  the  Boers,  and 
dragged  him  out  of  the  trench.  One  of  his  rescuers  was 
shot  down,  while  he  and  the  remaining  Highlander  crawled 
along  the  open,  but  the  searching  fire  from  the  trenches 
found  them  out,  a  bullet  seared  his  thigh,  and  he  lay 
feigning  death  till  the  heat  caused  him  to  feel  for  his  water 
bottle.  In  his  act  of  drinking  a  bullet  passed  through  his 
arm,  and  another  struck  the  water  bottle  and  scarred  his 
lip  and  face.  A  long  dark  smear  marred  the  beauty  of 
his  nut-tanned  cheek,  but  with  a  merry  twinkle  in  his  large 
blue  eyes,  he  said :  *  I  had  my  drink,  all  the  same. ' 
Eventually,  by  laying  low  for  a  time,  and  wriggling  along 
on  his  back,  he  came  to  the  first  aid,  and  was  at  last  for- 
warded down  to  Modder  River.  The  Highland  lad  rested 
but  little  that  night  ;    he  was  continually  on  the  move, 


384         SAD  PICTURES  AFTER    THE  BATTLE. 

helping  his  more  seriously  wounded  comrades.  Another 
of  the  Black  Watch  showed  me  his  hand,  badly  mauled, 
by  what  the  surgeons  told  him  was  an  explosive  bullet. 
It  was  badly  smashed,  but  the  man  was  quite  hopeful  of 
being  all  right  in  a  day  or  two.  I  did  not  care  to  tell  him 
that  it  probably  meant  amputation.  Whatever  the  British 
soldier  has  to  say  regarding  the  way  he  has  been  sacrificed 
in  attempting  to  carry  almost  impregnable  positions  during 
this  war,  he  can  never  complain  from  want  of  solicitude 
on  the  part  of  the  authorities  for  his  comfort  when  he  is 
once  hors  de  combat.' 

"The  ambulance  and  hospital  arrangements  from 
first  to  last  are  the  most  perfect  and  well  organized  that 
I  have  yet  seen  in  any  campaign,  and  they  seem  to  me 
so  perfect  in  the  arrangements  for  the  comfort  of  the 
wounded  or  sick  soldier  that  they  can  hardly  be  bettered. 
The  present  mode  of  warfare  makes  it  exceedingly  dan- 
gerous, often  impossible,  to  assist  the  seriously  hurt  till 
some  arrangement  has  been  made  with  the  enemy  to 
bring  off  the  wounded,  or  till  they  can  be  moved  under 
cover  of  night.  At  Magersfontein  and  elsewhere  heroic 
deeds  have  been  done  in  succoring  the  wounded  by  com- 
rades and  surgeons  during  the  battle;  but,  as  th'is  cam- 
paign progresses,  it  will  be  seen  whether  this  heroic  folly 
can  be  allowed  to  go  on.  It  seems  excessively  inhumane 
and  un-EngHsh  to  leave  wounded  comrades  on  the  field, 
but  the  wounded  in  this  war  have  seen  the  necessity  of 
being  left,  and  prefer  being  left  alone  till  after  the  fight. 
There  have  already  been  many  instances  where  beare'rs 
approaching  wounded  have  been  earnestly  requested  not 
to  come  near  by  the  man  they  were  about  to  succor, 
owing  to  the  danger  of  being  shot  again  when  being  lifted 
from  cover  on  to   the   stretcher.       Out  of   innumerable 


SAD  PICTURES  AFTER    THE  BATTLE.  385 

instances  there  has  come  under  my  notice — if  I  may  use 
the  expression — heroic  folly  in  succoring  wounded.  Col. 
Keith-Falconer  was  killed  as  he  lifted  his  head  from  cover 
when  he  heard  that  Bevan  of  the  5th  was  hit.  Bean, 
Eagar  and  Ray  of  the  5th  were  hit  in  attempting  to  suc- 
cor wounded. 

"At  Magersfontein,  Milford,  of  the  mounted  infantry, 
though  wounded,  received  a  more  severe  wound,  which 
caused  death,  through  a  comrade  insisting  on  succoring 
him  in  spite  of  his  remonstrances. 

"  Capt.  Percy  Probyn,  attached  to  the  Gordons,  found 
that  the  second  shot  had  passed  through  Milford's  liver, 
and  though  he  was  instrumental  in  assisting  many  wounded 
under  fire,  acknowledges  the  futility  of  it.  That  veteran 
and  now  retired  war  correspondent,  Archibald  Forbes, 
LL.  D. ,  a  few  years  ago  predicted,  in  an  excellent  article 
on  the  war  of  the  future,  the  hopelessness  of  succoring 
the  wounded  until  after  the  fighting  was  over. 

' '  One  can  understand  any  risk  being  taken  when  the 
enemy  is  a  savage  and  cruel  one,  and  does  not  give 
quarter;  but  with  a  humane  and  generous  enemy  like 
the  Boer,  who  has,  and  will,  no  doubt,  continue  to  treat 
our  wounded  within  the  immediate  vicinity  of  their  lines 
with  consideration,  this  heroic  folly  of  picking  up  the 
wounded  should  be  discontinued. 

"  I  came  across  an  excellent  colonial  ambulance  corps, 
the  King  Williamstown  Volunteers,  who,  next  to  the 
Guards  ambulance,  were  doing  splendid  work  in  the  field. 
Wounded  arriving  at  the  ambulance  were  immediately 
seen  to,  given  a  cheery  cup  of  beef  tea,  cocoa  or  other 
stimulant,  when  they  were  lifted  into  the  ambulance 
wagon  and  taken  down  to  the  Hotel  Dieu,  at  Modder 
River,  where  they  had  awaited  the  coming  of  the  ambu- 


386         SAD  PICTURES  AFTER    THE  BATTLE. 

lance  train,  and  were  eventually  taken  on  the  first  stage 
of  their  journey  en  route  to  Cape  Town.  At  .the  Orange 
River,  where  the  various  cases  were  assorted  and  arranged, 
the  more  serious  and  hopeless  were  treated  in  hospitals 
there,  and  the  others  forwarded  to  the  base  hospital  at 
Wynberg  or  Cape  Town.  The  Red  Cross  trains  have 
every  comfort  within  them  that  a  saloon  passenger  enjoys 
on  any  of  the  American  Railways.  The  wounded  soldier 
hobbling  or  carried  toward  this  car  has  likely  never  seen 
or  enjoyed  or  even  dreamt  of  the  comfort  and  luxury 
which  awaits  him  when,  faint  and  weary  from  the  long 
waiting,  huddled  next  to  dead  and  dying  in  the  shade  of 
Hotel  Dieu,  he  is  tenderly  lifted  out  of  the  train  and  is 
placed  in  a  sweet,  snowy  white  berth,  and  is  undressed 
and  sponged. and  made  comfortable  with  a  cigarette  and 
some  soothing  draught.  Women-kind  are  busy  about  the 
cars  in  the  shape  of  smart  young  Netley  nurses,  sporting 
the  bright  scarlet  jacket  of  that  institution,  and  soon  a 
hot  meal  is  prepared,  the  delicate  cooking  of  which 
Tommy  has  probably  never  experienced  in  all  his  life. 
Surgeon  Major  Flemming,  recently  of  Soudan  fame,  is 
responsible  for  all  the  little  dodges  and  inventions  in  these 
marvelously  fitted  ambulance  trains,  to  the  description  of 
which  more  space  might  be  devoted  were  it  not  for  the 
thousand  and  more  other  details  to  be  recorded  here.  For 
three  days  the  dead,  the  dying  and  the  wounded  thronged 
Crown  and  Royal  Hotel,  and  when  the  sun  declined  the 
steady  tramp  of  men  with  reversed  arms  was  heard  mov- 
ing towards  a  little  spot  about  a  hundred  yards  west  ©f 
the  hotel,  where  the  dead  were  interred.  By  the  side  of 
fifty  of  his  gallant  Highlanders,  poor,  unlucky  Maj.-Gen. 
Wauchope,  the  idol  of  the  brigade,  was  laid  to  rest. 
Next  to  him  was  buried*  the  gallant  Lieut. -Col.   Goflf,  of 


SAD  PICTURES  AFTER    THE  BATTLE.  387 

the  Argyle   and  Sutherlands,  who  fell  near   him  on  that 
fatal  morning. 

' '  I  could  not  refrain  from  stepping  up  to  look  at 
Wauchope's  grave.  I  had  been  with  him  in  many  cam- 
paigns, and  loved  him  as  one  of  the  finest  soldiers  of  the 
British  Empire.  In  a  soldier's  shroud,  a  blanket,  the 
great  Highlafid  chief  and  hero  of  many  campaigns 
slept  the  last  sleep,  with  a  rough  wreath  of  flowers  on 
his  breast.  Wauchope  seldom  faced  the  foe  without 
being  wounded.  The  last  Soudan  campaign,  I  believe, 
was  the  only  time  he  returned  home  without  some  visible 
and  tangible  sign  of  his  pluck  and  endurance.  With  a 
heart  as  tender  and  sweet  as  a  woman's,  he  had  the 
courage  of  a  lion.  His  men  adored  him,  as  the  Russian 
soldiers  loved  Skobeleff,  and  would  do  his  bidding 
unflinchingly.  There  must  have  been,  therefore,  some 
grave  mistake  at  Magersfontein.  Wauchope  was  the  first 
in  the  trenches,  and  the  first  to  fall;,  and  those  trenches 
were  not  taken.  So  poignant  was  the  grief  of  his  men  as 
they  pressed  forward  that  some  sobbed;  others,  anxious 
to  get  a  glimpse  of  the  body  before  the  earth  was  filled  in, 
nearly  slipped  me  into  the  chasm.  It  was  some  time 
before  I  could  get  out  of  the  crowd,  but  by  what  I  heard 
in  sullen  tones  from  those  surging  round  me,  there  was  a 
fixed  resolve  to  avenge  their  fallen  chief  when  the  next 
chance  came. 

' '  Messrs.  Glover  &  Sons,  the  proprietors  qf  the  Crown 
and  Royal,  still  tried  to  keep  up  the  appearance  of  an 
hotel  by  kindly  preparing  food  for  odd  war  correspondents 
and  others  stranded  at  Modder  River.  Two  smart  young 
women  busied  about  in  the  kitchen,  and  tried  to  make 
tasty  things  out  of  tinned  salmon  and  bully  beef.  It 
must  have  been  a  trying  experience  for  those  girls,  sud- 


388         SAD  PICTURES  AFTER    THE  BATTLE. 

denly  confronted  with  the  most  terrible  phase  of  warfare, 
for  the  wounded  and  dying  were  thronging  every  passage 
and  sidewalk  of  the  building.  These  girls  were  the  only 
refreshing  touches  of  light  to  the  grewsome  picture.  They 
seemed  to  go  about  their  work  absolutely  indifferent  to 
the  terrible  scenes  being  enacted  around  them. 

"To  get  into  the  little  room  in  which  our  simple  fare 
was  laid  one  had  to  step  over  the  poor  maimed  creatures 
who  lay  without  the  threshold.  Two  were  Boer  wounded, 
and  one  was  unconscious  but  of  one  thing,  his  feverish 
thirst,  and  would,  whilst  we  drank  our  modest  tea,  queru- 
lously ask  for  an  iced  lemon  squash.  The  piteous  cry 
startled  us  considerably — 'an  iced  lemon  squash' — Ye 
gods!  what  a  thing  to  ask  for  when  sparklets  and  tepid 
water  with  a  dash  of  Angestura  bitters  in  it — the  only 
liquor  left  in  the  hotel — and  which  the  sweet  tooth  of  the 
Boers  could  not  stomach — were  priceless  luxuries!  There 
were  some  fifteen  Boers  wounded,  the  majority  of  whom 
were  cheerful  fellows,  anxious  to  talk  and  show  their 
appreciation  for  the  way  the  hospital  orderlies  tended  to 
their  wants.  Several  of  them  had  ugly  bayonet  wounds. 
They  were  all  dressed  carefully  by  the  surgeon,  and  event- 
ually sent  down  in  the  ambulance  train.  One  especially 
intelligent  fellow,  who  was  wounded  in  the  thigh,  chatted 
with  me  in  good  English.  He  had  been  one  of  an  advance 
post  cut  off  from  the  main  trenches  at  Magersfontein,  and 
deplored  the  fact  that  he  and  his  companions  had  com- 
mandeered three  of  the  finest  race-horses  in  Johannes- 
burg, and  that  these  animals  were  all  shot  in  the  fray. " 


COLONEL  BADEN-POWELL. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 
KIMBERLEY  AND  LADYSMITH  RELIEVED. 

General  French  Leads  Victorious  British  into  Former,  and  Lord  Dundonald 
into  Latter — Lord  Roberts  in  Personal  Command. 

I  HE  MONTH  of  February  witnessed  the  first  real 
British  victory  of  the  war.  It  marked  the 
turning  point  in  the  campaign  for  Great 
Britain.  The  sieges  of  Kimberley  and  Lady- 
smith  were  raised  and  General  Cronje  with  three  thousand 
men  was  surrounded  and  forced  to  surrender.  All  of  these 
results  were  obtained  through  the  strategy  of  Lords 
Roberts  and  Kitchener.  The  British  forces  were  massed 
at  Modder  River,  where  they  engaged  Cronje's  army  and 
succeeded  in  turning  his  flank.  This  forced  Cronje  to  a 
running  retreat  into  the  Orange  Free  State.  He  made 
a  stand  at  Paardeburg,  where  with  three  thousand  men 
he  held  off  40,000  British  until  the  remainder  of  his  forces 
had  escaped  with  the  siege  guns.  Then  he  surrendered 
the  remnant  of  his  forces,  about  3,000  men. 

Previous  to  this  General  Buller  made  another  attempt 
to  relieve  Ladysmith,  which  resulted  in  a  number  of  fierce 
engagements. 

General  Buller  commenced  his  advance  Monday, 
February  5.  The  naval  guns  opened  at  seven  o'clock  in 
the  morning  and  a  feint  attack  was  made  in  front  of  his 
position.  Three  battalions  advanced  toward  the  Brakfon- 
tein  with  six  batteries. 

389 


390     KIMBERLEY  AND  LADYSMITH  RELIEVED. 

At  eleven  o'clock  the  Boers  opened  with  artillery  fire 
and  sent  several  shells  among  the  British  infantry,  who 
retired  an  hour  later. 

Meanwhile  a  vigorous  attack  was  made  on  the  extreme 
right,  where  the  engineers  expeditiously  constructed  a 
position.  Several  pieces  of  cannon,  hidden  among  the 
trees  on  Zwart's  Kop,  bombarded  heavily.  The  British 
infantry  advanced  and  the  Boers  were  entirely  surprised. 

At  four  o'clock  a  high  hill,  a  continuation  of  the 
Brakfontein,  had  been  taken.  The  operations  were 
excellently  planned.  The  name  of  the  hill  taken  is 
Krantz  Kloof. 

The  bombardment  of  the  Boer  position  was  resumed 
Tuesday  morning.  The  Boers  worked  a  disappearing 
cannon  from  the  high  Doorm  Kloof  range,  on  the  right  of 
the  captured  hill,  but  the  British  shells  exploded  its 
magazine,  and  the  gun  was  put  out  of  action  until  late  in 
the  day. 

Musketry  fire  was  intermittent  until  the  afternoon, 
when  the  Boers  made  a  determined  effort  to  retake  the 
hill.  Reinforcements  rushed  up  cheering,  the  Boers 
were  repulsed  and  the  British  advanced  along  the  ridge. 

The  war  balloon  proved  a  most  useful  adjunct,  making 
ascents  daily  and  getting  information  as  to  the  Boer  posi- 
tions. The  Boers  directed  a  heavy  shrapnel  fire  in  the 
endeavor  to  destroy  the  balloon  apparatus. 

The  British  artillery  behaved  splendidly  throughout, 
ably  covering  the  infantry  retirement  from  the  feint  attack 
in  the  face  of  a  heavy  Boer  shell  fire. 

The  Boer  position  consisted  of  a  line  of  kopjes,  strongly 
intrenched,  extending  three  miles  from  Spion  Kop  and 
curving  sharply  at  the  eastern. end  to  the  south,  about 
opposite  Zwart's  Kop,  which  is  a  steep  hill  south  of  the 


KIJVTBERLEY  and  LADYSMITH  relieved.     391 

Tugela  that  the  British  occupied  before  the  seizure  of 
Potgieter's  Drift. 

After  the  capture  of  Krantz  Kloof  the  heavy  !Boer  fire 
prevented  a  further  advance  Monday.  The  next  morning 
the  Boers  indulged  in  long  range  shell  fire,  and  in  the 
afternoon  they  made  a  vigorous  attempt  to  recapture  the 
position. 

Their  assault  was  made  upon  the  northern  end  of  the 
kopje  and  at  first  it  was  successful.  Reinforcements 
were,  however,  hurried  up  and  the  British  recarried  the 
position  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  and  advanced  along 
the  ridge. 

The  Durham  Light  Infantry  took  a  few  prisoners  in 
the  course  of  their  charge.  The  Boers,  as  usual,  fought 
with  the  utmost  stubborness. 

Up  to  and  including  Tuesday  noon  General  Buller 
reported  his  losses  as  two  officers  killed  and  fifteen 
wounded;  rank  and  file,  216  killed  and  wounded.  On 
Thursday,  February  8,  General  Buller  retired  again  to 
the  Tugela  River,  having  found  his  position  untenable. 

On  February  6  Generals  Roberts  and  Kitchener  went 
to  the  front,  and  began  the  operations  which  ended  in 
the  series  of  British  victories  first  referred  to.  On  the 
13th  General  French  led  the  advance  with  three  brigades 
of  cavalry,  horse  artillery  and  mounted  infantry. 

He  forced  a  passage  of  the  Modder  River  at  Clip 
Drift  and  occupied  the  hills  north  of  the  river,  capturing 
three  of  the  enemy's  .laagers,  with  their  supplies,  while 
General  Gordon  of  the  Fifteenth  Hussars,  with  his  bri- 
gade, who  had  made  a  feint  at  Rondeval  Drift,  four  miles 
west,  had  seized  it  and  a  second  drift  between  that  and 
Clip  Drift,  together  with  two  more  laagers. 

Lord    Roberts,  with   the  sixth  and  seventh  divisions 


392     KIMBERLEY  AND  LADYSMITH  RELIEVED. 

and  a  cavalry  division,   rendezvoused  at  Enslin  and  then 
marched  toward  the  Free  State. 

The  sixth  division  crossed  Riet  River  at  Watervaal 
Drift  and  marched  along  the  right  bank.  The  Boers 
showed  fight  and  there  were  slight  casualties.  The 
division  then  marched  on  to  Jacobsdal. 

The  cavalry  captured  Brown's  Drift  on  the  left  flank 
of  the  main  Boer  position.- 

Both  columns  marched  north  parallel  with  each  other. 

General  Kelly-Kenny,  with  the  sixth  division,  entered 
Jacobsdal.  The  Boers  made  a  feeble  attempt  to  hold 
the  eastern  ridges,  but  were  outflanked  by  the  mounted 
infantry  and  retired. 

The  division  then  evacuated  Jacobsdal,  marching 
north  in  the  track  of  French's  cavalry,  which  crossed 
the  Modder  River  and  engaged  the  Boers,  who  retired. 

The  seventh  division  crossed  the  Riet  River  east  of 
Koffyfontein  and  drove  the  Boers  before  them. 

The  ninth  division,  under  Gen.  Colville,  brought  up 
the  rear  of  the  sixth  division. 

French's  way  to  Kimberley  was  practically  clear,  the 
Boers  having  hurriedly  evacuated  their  trenches  at  Magers- 
fontein  when  Roberts  began  his  invasion  of  the  Orange 
Free  State.  General  French  reached  Kimberley  on 
February  i6. 

The  siege  of  Kimberley  began  October  12,  1899,  the 
very  day  upon  which  the  Transvaal  declared  war  with 
Britain.  General  Botha's  troops  .moved  over  the  border 
of  the  Orange  Free  State  and  surrounded  the  city  with  a 
double  row  of  trenches. 

On  October  24  Botha,  with  a  force  of  nearly  1,000 
men,  made  an  attack  on  the  outposts  of  the  town  with 
the  intention  of  taking  it,  but  was  repulsed  by  the  British 


KIMBERLEY  AND  LADY  SMITH  RELIEVED.     393 

under  Colonel  Kekewich.  The  besieged  lost  in  this  attack 
three  killed  and  sixteen  wounded. 

Early  in  November  the  British  in  Cape  Colony 
attempted  to  raise  a  relieving  force  and  three  or  four 
skirmishes  resulted,  in  which  the  losses  were  very  light 
on  both  sides. 

General  Cronje,  after  taking  command  of  the  Free 
State  Boers  on  November  6,  demanded  that  Colonel 
Kekewich  surrender.  The  demand  was  refused  and  the 
town  was  ineffectively  shelled  for  several  hours. 

The  arrival  of  Cecil  Rhodes  in  Kimberley  soon  before 
the  siege  began  gave  an  added  interest  to  the  city  and  its 
fate,  owing  to  the  reward  of  $2,000,000  set  on  his  head 
by  the  government  of  the  Transvaal.  Rhodes  was  of 
great  assistance  to  the  commanding  colonel,  and  his 
advice  was  eagerly  sought. 

General  Methuen's  march  north  in  November  was 
regarded  as  a  movement  which  would  certainly  raise  the 
siege.  But  Methuen's  defeats  at  Modder  River  and 
Magersfontein  on  November  28  and  December  11  post- 
poned further  action  by  his  forces.  The  number  of  British 
soldiers  in  Kimberley  during  the  time  of  the  siege  was 
about  2,500. 

During  the  last  few  weeks  of  the  126  days  during 
which  the  investment  had  been  sustained,  the  people  in 
Kimberley  suffered  severely  for  want  of  supplies.  So 
reduced  did  the  quantity  of  provisions  become  that  the 
besieged  were  compelled  to  eat  horsemeat.  The  situation 
was  rendered  all  the  more  unpleasant  by  the  presence  of 
large  numbers  of  native  workers  in  the  diamond  mines, 
whom  the  war  had  thrown  out  of  employment. 

The  city  of  Kimberley  grew  up  about  the  mines  which 
began  to  be  developed  after  the  discovery  of  diamonds  in 


394    KIMBERLEY  AND  LADYSMITH  RELIEVED. 

the  valley  of  the  Vaal  River  in  1870.  It  is  more  of  a 
mining  camp  than  a  modern  city.  By  1887  the  mines 
had  produced  a  total  of  $250,000,000  worth  of  diamonds. 
This  property  is  owned  by  an  English  syndicate,  at  the 
'  head  of  which  is  Cecil  Rhodes. 

It  was  this  immense  wealth  concealed  in  the  rocky 
soil  near  it  that  made  the  British  so  eager  to  save  the 
place  from  the  hands  of  the  Boers.  Lieutenant-Colonel 
R.  G.  Kekewich  of  the  North  Lancashire  Regiment,  part 
of  which  was  garrisoned  in  Kimberley,  was  in  charge  of 
the  military  forces.  He  was  assisted  by  Lieutenant 
Duncan  Maclnnes,  son  of  Senator  Maclnnes  of  Hamilton, 
Ont.  Lieutenant  Maclnnes  was  assigned  to  look  after 
the  defenses. 

Colonel  Kekewich  succeeded  in  rigging  up  search 
lights  by  which  he  was  enabled  to  communicate  with  the 
army  of  General  Methuen.  He  erected  a  signal  station 
on  the  top  of  a  conning  tower  130  feet  high,  from  which 
he  could  observe  the  movements  of  the  enemy.  This 
station  had  telephone  connection  with  the  colonel's  head- 
quarters in  the  town.  Many  schemes  of  defense  and 
much  of  the  confidence  with  which  the  town  has  held  out 
have  been  due  to  the  originality  and  genius  of  Cecil 
Rhodes. 

Kimberley 's  normal  population  is  about  10,000.  A 
strong  local  corps  was  organized  to  reinforce  the  British 
regulars,  the  Kimberley  Rifles,  the  Diamond  Field  Artil- 
lery and  the  Diamond  Field  Horse,  and  these  forces  held 
the  Boers  at  bay  until  the  entry  of  General  French. 

Some  idea  of  the  hardships  suffered  by  the  garrison 
can  be  seen  from  the  following  extracts  from  the  diary  of 
a  war  correspondent  in  the  besieged  city: 

January   11. — Scurvy  attacks  the  natives  alarmingly. 


KIMBERLEV  AND  LADY  SMITH  RELIEVED.     395 

They  are  dying  fast.     The  anti-scordotics  are  exhausted. 
Vine  cuttings  are  being  tried  in  lieu  of  green  food. 

January  12. — Typhoid  is  prevalent.  Failure  to  boil 
the  water  the  probable  cause. 

January  13. — Fifty  typhoids  in  the  hospital. 

January  16. — The  military  authorities  have  comman- 
deered all  the  foodstuffs  and  other  stores.  Leave  has  been 
granted  to  the  inhabitants  to  shoot  small  birds  for  food. 

January  17. — The  mules  slaughtered  are  pronounced 
superior  to  horse  flesh. 

January  24. — Five  hundred  shells  poured  into  the 
town  at  haphazard,  the  hospital,  scurvy  compound  and 
residences  receiving  the  attention  properly  due  to  the 
earthworks. 

January  25. — A  small  family  shell-proof  shelter  has 
been  dug  in  nearly  every  garden. 

February  11. — Twenty-five  hundred  women  and 
children  were  lowered  into  the  mines  throughout  the 
night.     The  men  were  also  selecting  places  of  safety. 

February  15. — All  the  morning  there  was  a  heavy 
cross-fire  of  the  British  occupying  Alexandersfontein. 
The  loo-pounder  and  shrapnel  are  bursting  over  Kimber- 
ley.  Everyone  is  lying  low.  The  shops  and  banks  were 
closed  at  two  this  afternoon.  There  was  a  kaleidoscopic 
change.  Helio  signals  were  observed  announcing  General 
French's  approach.  Clouds  of  dust  from  the  rapid 
advance  of  the  cavalry  were  then  seen  and  almost  simul- 
taneously the  enemy  was  observed  limbering  up  and 
fleeing  eastward.  The  glad  tidings  spread  with  mar- 
velous rapidity.  From  all  directions  mounted  and 
unmounted  men  hastened  to  welcome  the  relief  column. 
Those  remaining  hoisted  flags  and  there  was  a  universal 
feeling  of  joy  and  thankfulness. 


396    KIMBRRLEY  AND  LADY  SMITH  RELIEVED. 

The  siege  of  Ladysmith  was  raised  on  February  28, 
1900. 

General  Buller  had  cleared  the  southern  bank  of  the 
Tugela  by  February  21,  and  had  occupied  Colenso  and 
Fort  Wylie.  The  Boer  position  was  a  long  horseshoe, 
beginning  at  Grobler's  Kloof,  running  along  Langewacht 
Spruit  to  the  railway  south  of  Pieter's  station,  and  curv- 
ing backward  to  Bulwana  Mountain,  near  Ladysmith. 

The  attack  began  on  February  21  on  the  British  left 
toward  Grobler's  Kloof,  and  was  continued  the  following 
day  by  the  Lancashire  brigade  from  Onderbrook  Spruit. 

When  the  outermost  positions  had  been  taken,  lost 
and  recaptured  General  Buller  decided  that  it  was  im- 
practicable to  turn  or  capture  Grobler's  Kloof  and  ordered 
Hart's  brigade  to  attack  Railway  Hill,  on  the  right  of 
Pieter's  station.  This  was  done  under  a  heavy  fire,  and 
the  trenches  were  ""^Kcn. 

General  Buller  convinced  himself  that  the  passage  of 
Langewacht  Spruit  could  not  be  made  by  a  frontal  attack 
on  the  intrenchments,  and  retired  with  his  entire  force 
across  the  Tugela,  recalling  the  battalions  from  the  posi- 
tions which  they  had  stormed,  and  taking  up  the  pontoon 
bridge  two  miles  from  Pieter's  bridge. 

The  bridge  was  relaid  a  few  miles  lower  down  the 
Tugela,  and  on  February  27  two  of  Barton's  battalions, 'with 
the  Dublin  Fusiliers,  crept  down  the  river,  ascended  a  cliff 
500  feet  high,  and  carried  by  storm  Pieter's  Hill,  turning 
the  enemy's  position  at  Langewacht  Spruit. 

General  Warren,  with  two  brigades,  then  assailed  this 
position,  and  took  it  about  sunset,  the  South  Lancashires 
leading  the  forces. 

These  operations  enabled  General  Buller's  army  to 
pierce  the  center  of  the  Boers'  horseshoe  line  of  defenses. 


HEAD   GEAR,  SIMMER   AND   JACK    MINE,  JOHANNESBURG. 


ELECTRIC    HOIST,   GOLD    MINE,  JOHANNESBURG. 


KTMBERLEY  AND  LADYSMITH  RELIEVED.     399 

The  British  were  at  Pieter's,  with  the  Boers  still  in  pos- 
session of  Grobler's  Kloof  and  Bulwana,  at  the  ends  of 
the  horseshoe. 

Buller  had  clearly  broken  through  the  Boer  line  of 
defense,  and  was  in  a  position  to  march  toward  Ladysmith 
along  the  lines  of  the  railway,  with  the  enemy  still  in 
considerable  force  around  Bulwana  Mountain. 

General  Buller's  movements  can  only  be  understood 
after  a  patient  study  of  the  maps,  but  it  is  clear  that  after 
crossing  the  Tugela  below  Colenso  he  felt  his  way,  first 
on  the  left  along  Onderbrook  Spruit,  next  eastward  at 
Langewacht  Spruit,  and  finally  still  further  eastward, 
when,  after  retreating  to  the  south  bank  and  recrossing 
below  Pieter's,  he  succeeded  in  turning  and  carrying  the 
main  Boer  position. 

General  Buller  sent  the  following  official  report  of  these 
operations: 

Headquarters,  Hlandwani,  February  28,  5  a.  m. — 
Finding  that  the  passage  of  Langewacht  Spruit  was  com- 
manded by  strong  intrenchments,  I  reconnoitered  for 
another  passage  of  the  Tugela.  One  was  found  for  me 
below  the  cataract  by  Colonel  Sandbach,  Royal  Engi- 
neers, on  February  25. 

We  commenced  making  an  approach  thereto,  and  on 
February  26,  finding  that  I  could  make  the  passage  prac- 
ticable, I  crossed  the  guns  and  baggage  back  to  the  south 
side  of  the  Tugela,  took  up  the  pontoon  bridge  on  Mon- 
day night,  and  relaid  it  at  the  new  site,  which  is  just  below 
the  present  marked  cataract.  During  all  this  time  the 
troops  had  been  scattered,  crouching  under  hastily  con- 
structed small  stone  shelters  and  exposed  to  a  galling 
shell  and  rifle  fire,  and  throughout  they  maintained  the 
most  excellent  spirits. 

23 


400    KIMBERLEY  AND  LADYSMITH  RELIEVED. 

Tuesday  General  Barton,  with,  two  battalions  of  the 
Sixth  Brigade  and  the  Dublin  Fusiliers,  crept  about  a 
mile  and  a  half  down  the  banks  of  the  river,  and  ascended 
an  almost  perpendicular  cliff  of  about  500  feet,  assaulted 
and  carried  the  top  of  Pieter's  Hill. 

This  hill,  to  a  certain  extent,  turned  the  enemy's  left, 
and  the  Fourth  Brigade,  under  Colonel  Norcott,  and 
the  Eleventh  Brigade,  under  Colonel  Kitchener,  the 
whole  under  the  command  of  General  Warren,  assaulted 
the  enemy's  position,  which  was  magnificently  carried  by 
the  South  Lancashire  regiment  about  sunset. 

We  took  about  sixty  prisoners  and  scattered  the  enemy 
in  all  directions.  There  seems  to  be  still  a  considerable 
body  of  them  left  on  and  under  Bulwana  Mountain.  Our 
losses,  I  hope,  are  not  large.  They  certainly  are  much 
less  than  they  would  have  been  were  it  not  for  the  admira- 
ble manner  in  which  the  artillery  was  served,  especially 
the  guns  manned  by  the  royal  naval  force  and  the  Natal 
naval  volunteers. 

Winston  Churchill,  who  accompanied  the  relief 
column,  tells  of  the  first  meeting  with  the  Ladysmith 
garrison.     He  says: 

"During  the  afternoon  of  February  28  the  cavalry 
brigade  pressed  forward  under  Colonel  Burn-Murdoch 
toward  Bulwana  Hill  and  under  Lord  Dundonald  in  the 
direction  of  Ladysmith.  The  Boers  fired  on  both  with 
artillery  from  Bulwana. 

"About  four  o'clock  Major  Gough's  regiment,  which 
was  in  the  advance,  found  the  ridges  surrounding  and  con- 
cealing Ladysmith  apparently  unoccupied.  He  reported 
the  fact  to  Lord  Dundonald,  who  determined  to  ride  through 
the  gap  with  the  light  horse  and  carbineers.  The  rest  of 
the  brigade  was  sent  back  to  General  BuUer's  picket  line. 


KIMBERLEY  AND  LADY  SMITH  RELIEVED.     401 

' '  It  was  evening  when  we  started.  About  an  hour  of 
daylight  remained.  We  galloped  on  swiftly,  in  spite  of 
the  rough  ground,  up  and  down  hill,  through  scrub  and 
rocks  and  dongas,  until  we  could  see  the  British  guns 
flashing  from  Wagon  Hill,  but  on  we  went  faster  until 
suddenly  there  came  a  challenge  from  the  scrub:  'Who 
goes  there  ?' 

"  'The  Ladysmith  relieving  army,'  we  replied,  and 
then  the  tattered  and  almost  bootless  men  crowded 
around,  cheering  very  feebly.  Even  in  the  gloom  we 
could  see  how  thin  and  pale  they  looked,  but  how  glad 
they  were." 

Colonel  Rhodes,  the  brother  of  Cecil  Rhodes,  thus 
describes  the  entry  into  Ladysmith  of  Lord  Dundonald 
and  300  men  of  the  Imperial  Light  Horse  and  Natal  Car- 
bineers: * 

"It  is  impossible  to  depict  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
beleaguered  garrison.  Cheer  upon  cheer  ran  from  post  to 
post;  and  staff  officers,  civilians  and  soldiers  flocked  to 
greet  them.  The  contrast  between  the  robust  troopers 
of  a  dozen  battles  and  the  pale,  emaciated,  defenders 
of  Ladysmith  was  great. 

' '  General  White  and  his  staff  met  the  troops  in  the 
center  of  the  town.  He  was  cheered  with  heartfelt 
enthusiasm.  He  addressed  the  civilians  and  thanked 
them  and  the  garrison  for  their  magnificent  support 
through  trials  'which  we  alone  can  realize.  We  could  pos- 
sibly have  hung  on  for  six  weeks  longer,  but  the  privations 
would  have  been  great,  and  sickness  and  the  paucity  of 
our  ammunition  would  have  limited  the  number  of  assaults 
we  would  have  been  able  to  resist. 

"  'We  started  the  siege  with  i2,cxx)  troops,  2,c>(X) 
civilians  and  4,000  natives.     Between  casualties  and  sick- 


402    KIMBERLEY  AND  LADYSM7TH  RELIEVED. 

ness  8,000  soldiers  passed  through  the  hospital.  It  is 
impossible  to  overemphasize  the  privations  of  the  sick. 
Since  the  middle  of  January  a  man  once  down  was  prac- 
tically lost.  The  reduced  rations  of  the  soldiers  just 
sufficed  for  their  subsistence.  Daily  thirty  old  horses  and 
mules  were  slaughtered  and  converted  into  soup  and 
sausages.  From  January  15  to  now  there  have  been  over 
200  deaths  from  disease  alone. ' 

"The  last  fortnight  saw  the  majority  of  the  field  bat- 
teries unhorsed  and  the  guns  permanently  posted  in  our 
defenses.  The  cavalry  and  drivers  were  converted  into 
infantry  and  sent  to  the  trenches.  A  line  of  defenses  had 
been  constructed  with  a  view  to  a  possible  final  contin- 
gency if  the  outer  works  should  be  carried. 

"Since  the  investment  the  total  casualties  were: 
Killed  cfr  died  of  wounds,  24  officers  and  235  men;  died 
of  disease,  6  officers  and  340  men;  wounded,  70  officers 
and  520  men,  exclusive  of  white  civilians  and  natives." 

General  Buller  and  his  staff  did  not  enter  Ladysmith 
until  March  i. 

The  following  letter  from  a  soldier  in  the  besieged 
town  throws  additional  light  on  the  condition  of  the 
garrison : 

"The  once  dashing  cavalry  brigade  has  practically 
ceased  to  exist.  At  the  beginning  of  the  year  we  had 
5, 500  horses  and  4, 500  mules.  Before  the  end  of 
January  we  could  feed  only  1,100.  The  others  had 
either  been  converted  into  joints,  soups  and  sausage  or 
had  been  left  to  forage  for  themselves.  These  poor, 
emaciated  animals  —  mere  phantoms  of  horses — were 
among  the  most  painful  sights  of  the  siege. 

"Had  we  possessed  an  unlimited  amount  of  heavy 
guns  and  ammunition  we  might  have  made  the  position 


KIMBERLEY  AND  LADYSMITH  RELIEVED.     403 

more  bearable,  although  not  a  shot  was,  fired  except  in 
dire  necessity. 

"There  were,  on  February  i,  only  forty  rounds  left 
for  each  naval  gun,  while  the  supply  for  the  field  artillery 
would  have  been  exhausted  in  a  co'uple  of  minor  engage- 
ments. Fortunately  the  Boers  were  ignorant  of  the  true 
state  of  affairs.  Had  they  known  our  real  weakness  they 
might  h^ve  displayed  greater  daring,  with  results  which 
^now  that  we  are  safe — we  can  venture  to  contemplate. 
We  were  victorious  solely  because  of  masterly  inactivity, " 

Brigadier-General  Lord  Dundonald,  who,  as  com- 
mander of  the  Natal  Volunteers  and  a  composite  regi- 
ment, was  the  first  officer  of  Buller's  army  to  enter  besieged 
Ladysmith,  is  one  of  the  few  British  peers  who  have 
chosen  the  army  as  the  principal  instrument  of  their 
ambition.  He  is  the  twelfth  earl  of  his  title,  and  comes 
down  from  the  Douglases,  the  McKinnons,  the  Baillies, 
the  Hamiltons  and  the  Cochranes.  He  entered  the  army 
in  1870,  and  as  a  young  man  won  glory  in  the  fighting 
done  by  the  Nile  expedition  in  1884.  Five  years  ago  he 
was  promoted  to  be  colonel,  and  his  recent  ingenious 
invention  of  a  galloping  gun  carriage  caused  his  promotion 
to  generalship. 

Until  last  year  the  earl  was  colonel  of  the  Second  Life 
Guards.  He  had  retired  from  that  office  before  the  Boer 
war  began,  but  with  guns  rattling  in  South  Africa  he 
could  not  content  himself  in  London.  He  bought  a 
Maxim,  and,  gathering  about  him  a  number  of  volunteers, ' 
he  took  ship  for  the  Cape,  and  was  at  once  placed  in 
command  of  a  body  of  irregular  cavalry,  with  which  he 
did  first-class  work. 

Lord  Dundonald  has  found  little  attraction  outside  of 
a  military  career.     He  belongs  to  no  political  party,  and 


404    KIMBERLEY  AND  LADYSMITH  RELIEVED. 

has  never  interested  himself  in  the  debates  of  the  House 
of  Lords.  He  is  fond  of  the  country,  and  dehghts,  when 
he  cannot  be  with  the  soldiers,  to  spend  his  time  looking 
at  English  scenery  and  making  presents,  incognito,  to 
poor  peasant  women. 


STORY    OF    THE    SIEGE    OF    LADYSMITH.      ^ 

November  2 — Ladysmith  invested  and  siege  begins. 

November  15 — Action  near  Estcourt.  Armored  train 
overturned  by  Boers  and  fifty-eight  British,  including 
Lieutenant  Churchill,  captured. 

November  16 — Action  at  Willow  Grange.  British  lose 
eleven  killed,  sixty-seven  wounded  and  nine  missing. 

November  30 — Boers  attempt  to  take  Ladysmith  and 
are  repulsed  by  General  White's  men.  Besiegers  lose 
160  men  killed. 

December  15 — General  Buller  makes  an  effort  to 
march  to  Ladysmith.  Boers  take  eleven  British  guns, 
kill  146  of  the  enemy,  wound  746  and  capture  227. 

December  22 — General  White  orders  sortie  and  is 
repulsed  by  the  Boers  with  slight  losses. 

January  16 — Second  attack  by  Boers  on  position; 
retire  after  sixteen  hours  of  fighting.     Losses  small. 

January  17 — Buller  crosses  Tugela  River  and  makes 
his  second  unsuccessful  attempt  to  relieve  White. 

January  25 — Six-day  battle  of  Spion  Kop  closes; 
British  loses  194  killed;  532  wounded. 

February  4 — Buller  again  crosses  Tugela  River  with 
24,000  men  near  Molen's  Drift  and  retreats  three  days 
afterwards,  losing  fifty  killed,  657  wounded  and  twelve 
missing. 


KIMBERLEY   AND  LADYSMITH  RELIEVED.     405 

February  20 — Battle  of  Colenso;  British  loss  fourteen 
killed,   160  wounded. 

February    21 — Buller   crosses   Tugela    River   for   the 
fourth  time. 

March  1=^— Ladysmith  relieved. 

The  siege  of  Ladysmith  began  November  2.  This 
was  after  the  retreat  of  the  British  forces  from  Glencoe 
and  the  safe  arrival  of  the  Glencoe-Dundee  detachments 
at  the  camp  of  General  White.  Between  the  opening  of 
the  war  and  the  beginning  of  the  siege  several  important 
engagements  were  fought  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  big 
British  camp  near  the  Transvaal  border — that  at  Glencoe 
on  October  30,  in  which  the  British  lost  forty-three  killed, 
181  wounded  and  200  captured;  at  Elandslaagte,  where 
they  lost  forty-two  killed  and  2 1 5  wounded,  and  at  Nichol- 
son's Nek,  October  30,  where  they  lost  forty-two  killed, 
1 50  wounded  and  843  captured. 

General  White's  forces  at  Ladysmith  were  variously 
estimated  at  between  8,ock)  and  10,000,  accounting  for 
the  men  lost  in  action  before  the  siege  and  the  reinforce- 
ments of  colonial  volunteers.  This  number  was  only 
slightly  reduced  by  losses  sustained  in  the  several  sorties 
made  by  White's  orders  and  in  the  two  attacks  in  force 
made  by  the  Boers  to  storm  the  position  on  November  30 
and  January  6.  General  White  was  amply  supplied  with 
food  and  ammunition,  but  the  suffering  in  the  camp  was 
very  great  owing  to  the  ravages  of  enteric  fever  and  the 
general  ill  health  of  the  troops,  caused  by  the  vitiation  of 
the  water  of  the  Klip  River,  from  which  the  camp  and 
the  town  drew  their  supply. 

Buller's  army  of  relief  began  to  arrive  about  the  middle 
of  November,  and  by  December  he  had  under  his  com- 
mand about  30,000  men,  most  of  whom  he  could  use  in 


4o6     KIMBERLEY  AND  LADYSMITH  RELIEVED. 

the  battle-field  owing  to  the  fact  that  his  line  of  communi- 
cation did  not  require  a  large  guard.  On  December  15 
he  tried  to  cross  the  Tugela  and  lost  eleven  guns  and 
more  than  1,000  men. 

Buller's  second  attempt  to  cross  the  Tugela  was  made 
January  17,  but  on  January  25  he  was  again  forced  to 
retire.  Meanwhile  he  had  fought  the  bloody  six-day  bat- 
tle of  Spion  Kop.  In  this  battle  twenty-six  officers  were 
killed,  .twenty  wounded,  and  six  men  captured.  The 
British  fatalities  were  nearly  600. 

On  February  4  General  Buller,  whose  forces  had  been 
now  augmented  by  20,000,  making  his  total  force,  theo- 
retically, 50,000,  crossed  the  river  for  the  third  time;  but 
he  retreated  three  days  later. 

On  February  21  Buller  began  his  fourth  attempt. 
While  both  sides  were  preparing  for  battle,  news  of  the 
British  change  of  campaign  plans  in  the  west  reached  the 
Boers  in  Natal  and  their  confidence  was  weakened. 
Many  of  their  troops  were  drawn  off  to  march  either  to 
their  capital  in  the  north  or  to  the  relief  of  General  Cronje 
in  the  west.  After  one  or  two  skirmishes,  in  which  the 
Boer  positions  on  the  kopjes  were  taken,  the  advance 
portion  of  Buller's  army,  with  General  Dundonald  in 
command,  marched  into  Ladysmith. 


CITY   AND   SUBURBAN   CYANIDE   WORKS,  JOHANNESBURG. 


-'  . 

1^ 

k 

V  ME 

?^1 

L 

^ZZ^m— 

=?^^ 

zSS^V 

■r5^^^»^ 

j^K  Y  viH|y9 

*fc^ 

H^^^^nl 

sdB^S^ 

^^^^^^9 

CYANIDE   WORKS,  NEW   CRCESUS    MINE. 


INTERIOR   OF   CITY   AND   SUBURBAN   BATTERY,  JOHANNESBURG. 


GOLD   STAMP    MILL,   DREIFONTEIN. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 
SURRENDER    OF    GENERAL    CRONJE. 

After   Eight   Daj-s  Heroic   Fighting  the  Boer  General  is  Forced  to  Capitu- 
late— Three  Thousand  Boers   Hold  Forty  Thousand  British 
Troops  at  Bay. 

1|^  J|fO  FEATURE  of  the  campaign  has  been  more 
If^  1/  replete  with  heroism  than  the  surrender  of 
j^^^^  General  Cronje  with  3,000  men  after  the  mag- 
^  ^  nificent  defense  of  eight  flays  against  over- 
whelming numbers. 

When  General  Roberts,  after  concentrating  his  forces 
at  Modder  River,  began  his  forward  march,  it  was  dis- 
covered that  the  forces  heretofore  confronting  General 
Methuen  had  evacuated  their  trenches  and  were  retreat- 
ing into  the  Orange  Free  State  in  the  direction  of  Bloem- 
fontein.  This  force  was  under  command  of  Commandant 
P.  J.  Cronje  and  was  supposed  to  number  about  8,000 
men.  More  than  half  of  the  force  escaped  taking  with 
them  the  heavy  siege  guns  with  which  they  had  decimated 
General  Methuen's  army  at  Modder  River.  General 
Roberts  gave  swift  pursuit  and  overtook  the  rear  guard 
near  Paardeburg's  Drift,  where  Cronje  with  his  back  to 
the  wall,  as  it  were,  made  such  a  gallant  resistance  that 
it  ranks  with  the  greatest  achievements  in  heroic  warfare. 

The  Boers  were  entrenched  in  the  bed  of  the  river 
and  for  eight  days  were  subjected  to  an  artillery  fire  from 
more  than  a  hundred  guns. 

407 


4o8  SURRENDER   OF  GENERAL   CRON/E. 

The  convergence  of  the  British  forces  at  Paardeburg 
resulted  in  the  surrounding  of  General  Cronje's  army  on 
all  sides.  The  Sixth  division,  under  General  Kelly- 
Kenny,  while  hastening  to  the  northeast,  occupied  a  hill 
to  the  east  of  General  Cronje's  laager.  General  Cronje 
expected  reinforcements  under  Commandant  Andries  at 
this  point.  He  mistook  the  men  of  the  Sixth  division  for 
Andries'  commando  and  allowed  them  to  occupy  the  slope 
of  a  ridge  without  opposition. 

The  Boer  position  was  this:  Cronje  was  to  the  south 
and  Generals  Snyman  and  Fourie  to  the  north.  The 
Sixth  division  occupied  a  position  to  the  southeast,  and 
General  French  arrived  on  the  i8th  in  time  to  complete 
the  inclosure  of  the  Boers. 

But  it  was  the  Ninth  division,  especially  the  Highland 
brigade,  that  had  the  hardest  fighting.  This  brigade  was 
formerly  part  of  General  Methuen's  division.  The  Ninth 
was  a  new  division,  of  which  General  Sir  A.  E.  Colville 
was  made  commander,  and  in  which  the  Highland 
brigade,  under  General  Hector  MacDonald,  has  been 
incorporated. 

They  arrived  at  midnight  on  February  17,  after  a 
forced  march  from  outside  Jacobsdal,  in  time  to  see  Boer 
rockets  signaling  the  whereabouts  of  General  Cronje's 
army  to  the  expected  reinforcements.  The  British  saw 
intervening  rockets  and  knew  an  enemy  was  near,  but 
could  not  decide  whether  it  was  Boer  reinforcements  that 
were  giving  the  answering  signals.  Therefore,  the  Ninth 
division  rested  for  a  few  hours  east  of  the  Boer  position. 

At  dawn  the  men  of  the  Ninth  division  advanced  and 
their  mounted  infantry  soon  encountered  Boer  snipers, 
who  were  sheltered  in  the  trees  that  covered  the  banks  of 
the   river.     The   shooting   kept   on   increasing  till  eight 


SURRENDER   OF  GENERAL   CRONJE.  409 

o'clock,  when  the  men  of  the  Ninth  saw  that  a  great  bat- 
tle was  raging. 

Early  in  the  forenoon  the  Boers  brought  a  Hotchkiss 
gun  over  the  veldt  from  Kings  Kop  to  the  southern  bank 
of  the  river  and  used  it  with  deadly  effect  over  the  ground 
which  the  Ninth  had  to  cross. 

General  Hector  McDonald  dismounted  and  led  the 
advance.  In  the  early  part  of  the  forenoon  he  was  hit  by 
a  bullet  in  the  foot  while  directing  the  Highland  brigade, 
which  was  struggling  through  a  storm  of  bullets  toward 
the  bushes.  In  this  charge  the  Seaforth  Highlanders 
lost  heavily.  Near  the  top  of  the  slope  on  the  right, 
opposite  the  Boer  laager,  the  Seaforths  and  the  Duke  of 
Cornwall's  light  infantry,  belonging  to  another  brigade  of 
the  Ninth  division,  drove  the  Boers  from  cover  around 
the  drift  and  bayoneted  several  of  them  who  had  been 
shooting  from  trees.  Then  they  waded  waist  deep 
through  the  river  and  held  the  northwest  side  with  the 
Gordons,  while  the  Canadians  were  held  in  reserve. 

It  was  at  this  point,  while  charging  fearlessly,  that  the 
Cornwalls  suffered  severely.  They  lost  their  colonel  and 
adjutant,  and  had  ninety-six  casualties.  The  mounted 
infantry  suffered  severely  while  attacking  the  Boer  laager 
from  the  north,  where  it  was  supposed  to  be  least 
protected. 

The  Sixth  division,  holding  the  position  to  the  east, 
got  into  an  engagement  before  noon  with  a  strong  force  of 
Boers  which  was  trying  to  escape  to  the  south  bank  of  the 
river.  The  West  Riding  regiment  (the  Duke  of  Well- 
ing's)  repelled  this  attempt  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet, 
but  suffered  considerably. 

Early  in  the  engagement  Commandant  Cronje  sent  a 
note  to  General   Kitchener,  who  was  in  active  command 


41  o  SURRENDER   OF  GENERAL   CRONJE. 

of  the  British  forces,  asking  an  armistice  for  twenty-four 
hours  in  which  to  bury  his  dead.  This  was  refused. 
General  Kitchener  repHed  that  he  would  not  allow  one 
minute  armistice,  but  would  give  the  Boers  one  half-hour 
to  consider  whether  they  would  surrender  unconditionally 
or  fight  to  a  finish.  Cronje  replied  that  he  would  fight  to 
the  death,  and  the  bombardment  was  reopened. 

The  eight  days'  fighting  began  on  Sunday,  February 
1 8.  It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  explain  Sunday's  action,  in 
which  all  the  British  forces  were  engaged.  Commandant 
Cronje,  although  in  difficult  circumstances,  managed  to 
hold  his  own. 

On  Saturday  night  the  mounted  infantry  came  in 
touch  with  the  Boer  rear  guard,  driving  it  back  on  the 
main  body.  On  Sunday  morning  the  British  renewed 
the  action,  but  the  Boers  had  intrenched  themselves  in 
the  bed  of  the  river  during  the  night,  and  prevented  a 
further  advance  by  the  mounted  infantry  in  this  direction. 

Meanwhile,  the  Highland  brigade,  comprising  the 
Seaforths,  Black  Watch,  Argyll,  and  Sutherlands, 
advanced  from  the  south  bank  of  the  river,  while  the 
Essex,  Welsh  and  Yorkshire  regiments  closed  in  in  a  long 
line,  the  left  of  which  rested  on  the  river.  The  whole 
line  was  ordered  to  envelop  the  enemy,  who  lined  both 
banks  of  the  river.  The  firing  was  soon  heavy.  The 
Boers  held  a  splendid  position,  commanding  the  left  of 
the  Highland  brigade,  which  advanced  partly  up  the  river 
bed  and  partly  in  the  open. 

While  the  other  regiments  swung  round  to  the  front, 
the  Highland  brigade,  being  on  level  ground  that  was 
destitute  of  cover,  were  exposed  to  a  terrible  fire,  which 
obliged  the  men  to  lie  prone  on  the  ground  for  the  rest  of 
the  day.     This  began  at  7:30  in  the  morning,  and  through 


SURRENDER   OF  GENERAL   CRONJE. 


411 


the  dreadful  heat  and  a  terrible  thunderstorm  the  men 
hung  to  their  position,  answering  the  enemy's  fire  and 
shooting  steadily. 

Meanwhile  the  rest  of  the  infantry  performed  their 
enveloping  movement.  The  Welsh  regiment  succeeded 
in  seizing  the  drift,  thus  completely  enveloping  the  Boers, 
who,  throughout,  fought  with  splendid  courage. 

Commandant  Cronje's  laager  was  full  of  wagons  loaded 
with  ammunition  and  stores,  which  could  be  plainly  seen 
near  the  north  »bank.  Colonel  Smith-Dorien  collected  a 
large  body  of  men,  including  the  Canadians,  crossed  the 
river  by  Paardeburg  drift,  and  advanced  toward  the 
laager,  which  shelled  them  vigorously. 

Here  the  body  made  a  gallant  attempt  to  charge  into 
the  laager,  but  failed.  The  Boers  before  seizing  the 
western  drifts  had  occupied  a  kopje  on  the  south  bank  of 
the  river,  running  to  its  edge.  The  British  force  was 
therefore  cut  in  two.  The  enemy  holding  the  kopje  pos- 
sessed one  Vickers-Maxim  gun  and  one  or  two  other 
guns. 

Toward  evening  the  British  battery  on  the  south  bank 
opened  fire,  co-operating  with  the '  battery  on  the  north 
side.  The  shells  fell  with  wonderful  precision  along  the 
river  bed,  forcing  the  Boers  back,  until  they  reached  the 
bed  of  the  river  opposite  the  laager,  which  was  shelled 
thoroughly,  everything  it  contained  being  damaged. 

A  shell  set  fire  to  a  small  ammunition  wagon,  which 
burned  nearly  all  day.  Many  wagons  took  fire,  and 
far  into  the  night  the  glare  could  be  seen  for  a  great 
distance. 

The  infantry,  too,  kept  up  a  terrible  fire,  which  was 
answered  vigorously.  The  whole  scene  toward  nightfall 
was  terribly  picturesque.     Wagons  were  blazing,  and  the 


41  a  SURRENDER   OF  GENERAL   CRONJE. 

roar  of  the  artillery'  mingled  with  the  crackle  of  the  infan- 
try fire. 

Firing  ceased  Sunday  at  nighfall.  Both  sides  were 
very  tired  and  glad  of  a  chance  to  rest.  The  men  slept 
where  they  fought. 

All  day  the  Highland  brigade  fought  steadily  and 
sternly,  and  although  the  men  were  much  worn  out  by 
evening,  the  cordon  had  been  completed  and  every  outlet 
closed. 

After  nightfall  perfect  silence  prevailed.  A  few  Boers 
came  into  the  British  camp.  They  confessed  they  were 
sick  of  fighting,  and  had  been  urging  General  Cronje  to 
surrender. 

The  men  suffered  terribly  from  thirst  during  the  fight- 
ing, but  it  was  impossible  to  supply  them  with  water. 
General  Hector  MacDonald  was  wounded  in  the  fight, 
but  not  seriously. 

Monday  morning  found  the  Boers  in  the  same  place. 
During  the  night  they  had  constructed  intrenchments 
around  their  laager,  which  was  still  threatened. 

Colonel  Smith-Dorien's  force  of  infantry  rested  after 
yesterday's  terrible  hard  work,  but  the  mounted  infantr). 
and  a  battery  of  horse  artillery  started  to  observe  the 
Boers'  position.  A  good  defensive  position  on  a  kopje 
was  seized  and  garrisoned,  and  the  remainder  of  the  force 
continued  the  movement  and  completely  turned  the 
enemy's  position  on  the  extreme  left,  where  there  was  a 
farmhouse  which  was  strongly  held.  This  house  was 
vigorously  shelled.  The  force  returned  to  camp  at  night- 
fall, leaving  a  garrison  on  the  ridge. 

Lord  Roberts  arrived  later  and  addressed  the  troops, 
who  cheered  him  enthusiastically. 

The  fourth  day  of  Commandant  Cronje's  magnificent 


SURRENDER  OF  GENERAL   CRON/E.  413 

defense  opened  startlingly.  Soon  after  dawn  a  terrific 
rattle  of  rifle  fire  surprised  the  British.  Information  was 
soon  received  that  the  Gloucestershire  and  Essex  regi- 
ments had  lost  their  way  last  night,  and  having  not  the 
slightest  knowledge  of  their  locality  they  had  bivouacked 
close  to  the  Boer  laager  on  the  north  side  ot  the  river. 

The  enemy  perceived  the  blunder  they  had  made,  and 
opened  a  terrific  fusillade,  but  their  shooting  was  bad, 
and  they  practically  did  no  damage.  Desultory  firing 
followed  on  both  banks  of  the  river.  General  Knox's  bri- 
gade held  the  south  side,  while  Colonel  Smith-Dorien,  on 
the  north  side,  worked  toward  the  laager. 

General  French  had  meanwhile  advanced  far  to  the 
eastward,  and  approached  a  kopje  that  was  held  by  a 
strong  force  of  Commandant  Cronje 's  men,  who  had  been 
reinforced  by  a  contingent  from  Ladysmith,  while  Gen- 
eral Broadwood's  brigade,  with  a  battery  of  horse 
artillery,  was  on  the  left  and  rear  of  the  same  kopje. 
The  front  of  the  hill  was  thoroughly  shelled.  Suddenly 
the  Boers  bolted  toward  General  French,  who  headed 
them  toward  the  drift,  shelling  them  vigorously.  Many 
escaped,  but  a  large  number  were  killed,  and  fifty  were 
taken  prisoners. 

The  British  in  this,  their  first,  contact  with  reinforce- 
ments from  Ladysmith,  captured  much  forage,  provisions, 
and  equipment.  There  were  several  pourparlers  during 
a  short  armistice  at  midday. 

One  of  the  British  doctors  who  visited  the  Boer  lines 
to  see  the  wounded  found  the  trenches  near  the  river  full 
of  men  who  had  been  wounded.  He  also  saw  many 
dead. 

A  deserter,  who  came  into  the  British  lines,  stated 
that  the  previous  day's  bombardment   was   deadly,  the 


414  SURRENDER   OF  GENERAL   CRONJE. 

howitzers  especially  battering  the  river  bed  with  an 
enfilading  fire.  The  position,  nevertheless,  remained  the 
same. 

The  Boers  strengthened  the  intrenchments  around 
their  laager,  but  their  case  was  hopeless. 

Every  shrapnel  shell  found  a  victim. 

General  Roberts  sent  a  message  to  Commandant 
Cronje  offering  safe  conduct  to  women  and  children  and 
a  free  pass  for  them  anywhere.  He  also  offered  to  loan 
doctors  and  medicine. 

Commandant  Cronje  curtly  refused  the  offer. 

The  ensuing  days  up  to  the  surrender  were  but  a 
repetition  of  what  has  already  been  described,  with  the 
additional  fact  that  General  Roberts  was  steadily  drawing 
the  cordon  tighter  around  the  doomed  Boer  camp. 

The  Canadian  troops  had  the  honor  of  finishing  the 
work  which  compelled  General  Cronje's  surrender. 

The  Boer  commander  knew  the  previous  morning  that 
there  could  be  only  one  possible  result  to  any  sorties  by 
his  men.  Then  he  became  convinced  that  the  British 
cordon  could  not  be  broken  from  within.  He  learned  of 
the  dispersal  of  his  expected  reinforcements,  he  knew  that 
the  cordon  was  not  likely  to  be  broken  from  without. 

This  black  outlook  became  worse  .during  the  day, 
when  fifty  British  guns  kept  firing  and  the  engineers  began 
sapping  forward  and  building  two  miles  of  trenches  around 
the  western  boundary  of  the  laager,  which  point  was 
held  by  the  Ninth  infantry  division,  unde'r  General  Sir 
A.  E.  Colville. 

Colonel  Smith-Dorien's  brigade  was  the  one  nearest 
to  the  enemy  in  front.  When  darkness  fell  they 
bivouacked  in  silence.  At  2:40  o'clock  on  the  morning 
of   February    27  they   were    ordered   to   creep    forward 


NATIVE   WAR    DANCE,   NEW   PRIMROSE    MINE. 


THE   COMPOUND,    NEW    PRIMROSE    MINE,  JOHANNESBURG. 


SURRENDER   OF  GENERAL   CRONJE.  417 

silently  toward  the  Boer  trenches.  But  the  Canadians 
and  Gordons  charged  forward  for  200  yards  under  cover 
of  volleys  from  the  Cornwalls  and  Shropshires.  The 
firing  of  the  Cornwalls  and  Shropshires  enabled  the 
Canadians  to  intrench  themselves  parallel  to  the  Boer 
trenches.  Before  dawn  there  was  a  distance  of  only 
thirty  yards  between  the  Canadians  and  the  Boers,  and 
the  former  were  in  such  a  position  that  they  could  enfilade 
the  trenches. 

The  Boers  made  a  brief  but  stubborn  resistance  in  the 
semi-darkness.  The  only  effect  this  had  was  on  the 
British  extreme  left,  where  part  of  the  Canadians  scarcely 
had  time  to  erect  cover.  Daylight  showed  the  Boers  how 
utterly  indefensible  their  position  was.  Neither  the 
British  artillery  nor  the  other  infantry  divisions  fired  a 
shot,  for  the  reason  that  the  cordon  had  been  so  con- 
tracted that  there  was  .danger  of  hitting  their  own 
men. 

Suddenly  a  regiment  stationed  on  the  crest  of  a  hill 
perceived  a  white  flag  and  burst  into  cheers,  thus  first 
announcing  the  surrender  of  General  Cronje.  Shortly 
afterward  a  note  reached  Lord  Roberts,  bringing  tidings 
of  the  Boers'  unconditional  surrender. 

General  Prettyman  was  sent  to  accept  the  surrender. 
At  about  7  o'clock  a  small  group  of  men  appeared  in  the 
distance  crossing  the  plain  toward  headquarters.  Lord 
Roberts,  being  apprised  of  General  Cronje's  approach, 
went  to  the  front  in  the  modest  cart  in  which  he  sleeps 
and  ordered  a  guard  of  theSeaforths  to  line  up. 

On  General  Prettyman's  right  rode  an  elderly  man 
clad  m  a  rough  short  overcoat,  a  wide-brimmed  hat,  ordi- 
nary tweed  trousers  and  brown  shoes.  It  was  the 
redoubtable  Cronje.     His  face  was  burned  almost  black 

24 


4i8  SURRENDER  OF  GENERAL  CRONJE. 

and  his  curly  beard  was  tinged  with  gray.  His  face  was 
absolutely  impassive,  exhibiting  no  sign  of  his  inner 
feelings. 

Lord  Roberts  was  surrounded  by  his  staff  when  Gen- 
eral Pretty  man,  addressing  the  field  marshal,  said: 

"Commandant  Cronje,  sir." 

The  commandant  touched  his  hat  in  salute,  and  Lord 
Roberts  saluted  in  return.  The  whole  group  then  dis- 
mounted, and  Lord  Roberts  stepped  forward  and  shook 
hands  with  the  Boer  commander. 

"You  made  a  gallant  defense,  sir,"  was  the  first  salu- 
tation of  Lord  Roberts  to  the  vanquished  Boer  leader. 
He  then  motioned  General  Cronje  to  a  seat  in  a  chair, 
which  had  been  brought  for  his  accommodation,  and  the 
two  officers  conversed  through  an  intrepreter. 

The  surrender  was  chiefly  due  to  the  gallant  night 
attack  upon  his  trenches  by  the  Canadians  and  the  Gor- 
dons. 

General  Cronje  asked  that  his  wife,  who  was  at  the 
Boer  laager,  his  grandson,  and  his  private  secretary  be 
allowed  to  accompany  him.  Lord  Roberts  granted  all 
these  requests  and  shortly  afterward  withdrew. 

General  Cronje  remained  and  breakfasted  with  the 
staff.  Afterward  one  of  the  officers  gave  him  a  cigar, 
which  he  smoked  in  a  quiet,  preoccupied  manner,  saying 
very  little.  He  wore  a  wide,  soft  gray  hat,  with  a  cord 
of  orange  leather  and  band  of  dark  green.  His  overcoat 
was  duck  cloth  and  he  wore  black  trousers  and  dark-brown 
boots.     In  his  hand  he  carried  a  thick  cane. 

General  Cronje  looked  like  an  elderly  substantial 
farmer.  He  had  broad,  round  shoulders,  a  wide  brow,  a 
weather-beaten,  oval  face,  and  wore  a  short,  grizzly  beard. 
He  was  very  quiet  in  his  manner.     About  the  only  thing 


SURRENDER  OF  GENERAL   CRONJE.  4x9 

he  said  was  that  there   were  3,000  men  in   his  laager. 
This  number  proved  to  be  correct. 

General  Roberts  made  the  following  official  report  of 
the  surrender: 

Paardeburg,  II  o'clock,  Tuesday  morning. — From 
information  furnished  daily  to  me  by  the  intelligence 
department  it  became  apparent  that  General  Cronje's 
force  was  becoming  more  depressed  and  that  the  discon- 
tent of  the  troops  and  the  discord  among  the  leaders  were 
rapidly  increasing.  This  feeling  was  doubtless  accentu- 
ated by  the  disappointment  caused  when  the  Boer  rein- 
forcements which  tried  to  relieve  Cronje  were  defeated 
by  our  troops  on  February  2. 

I  resolved,  therefore,  to  bring  pressure  to  bear  on  the 
enemy.  Each  night  the  trenches  were  pushed  forward 
toward  the  enemy's  laager  so  as  to  gradually  contract  his 
position,  and  at  the  same  time  we  bombarded  it  heavily 
with  artillery,  which  was  yesterday  materially  aided  by 
the  arrival  of  four  six-inch  howitzers  which  I  had  ordered 
up  from  De  Aar.  In  carrying  out  these  measures  a  cap- 
tive balloon  gave  great  assistance  by  keeping  us  informed 
of  the  dispositions  and  movements  of  the  enemy. 

At  3  A.M.  to-day  a  most  dashing  advance  was  made 
by  the  Canadian  regiment  and  some  engineers,  supported 
by  the  First  Gordon  Highlanders  and  Second  Shropshires, 
resulting  in  our  gaining  a  point  some  600  yards  nearer  the 
enemy  and  within  about  eighty  yards  of  his  trenches, 
where  our  men  entrenched  themselves  and  maintained 
their  positions  till  morning,  a  gallant  deed  worthy  of  our 
colonial  comrades,  and  which,  I  am  glad  to  say,  was 
attended  by  comparatively  slight  loss. 

This  apparently  clinched  matters,  for  at  daylight  to- 
day a  letter  signed  by  General  Cronje,  in  which  he  stated 


420  SURRENDER   OF  GENERAL   CRONJE. 

that  he  surrendered  unconditionally,  was  brought  to  our 
outposts  under  a  flag  of  truce. 

In  my  reply  I  told  General  Cronje  he  must  present 
himself  at  my  camp  and  that  his  forces  must  come  out 
of  their  laager  after  laying  down  their  arms.  By  7  a.  m. 
I  received  General  Cronje  and  dispatched  a  telegram  to 
you  announcing  the  fact. 

In  the  course  of  conversation  he  asked  for  kifid  treat- 
ment at  our  hands  and  also  that  his  wife,  grandson, 
private  secretary,  adjutant  and  servants  might  accompany 
him  wherever  he  might  be  sent.  I  reassured  him  and 
told  him  his  request  would  be  complied  with.  I  informed 
him  that  a  general  officer  would  be  sent  with  him  to  Cape 
►  Town  to  insure  his  being  treated  with  proper  respect  en 
route.  He  will  start  this  afternoon  under  charge  of  Major- 
General  Prettyman,  who  will  hand  him  over  to  the  general 
commanding  at  Cape  Town. 

The  prisoners,  who  number  about  3,000,  will  be 
formed  into  commandos  under  our  own  officers.  They 
will  also  leave  here  to-day,  reaching  the  Modder  River 
to-morrow,  when  they  will  be  railed  to  Cape  Town  in 
detachments.  Roberts. 

The  news  of  the  surrender  was  received  throughout 
the  British  empire  with  great  rejoicing,  which  was  inten- 
sified by  the  fact  that  it  took  place  on  the  nineteenth 
anniversary  of  Majuba  Hill. 

A  two  hours'  inspection  of  the  Boer  laager  was  nau- 
seating. It  is  marvelous  how  any  one  could  remain  ten 
days  there  among  decomposed  horses  and  the  entrails  of 
cattle  and  sheep  which  were  being  roasted  by  the  sun. 

A  newspaper  correspondent  tramped  out  on  the  veldt 
and  saw  some  British  soldiers  removing  the  Boer  sick  on 


SURRENDER  OF  GENERAL   CRONJE.  421 

stretchers.  The  correspondent  did  not  see  a  single 
wagon  intact  anywhere.  Most  of  them  were  half  burned. 
Meal  and  potatoes  were  scattered  among  old  clothes, 
trunks,  and  cooking  utensils.  There  were  thousands  of 
rounds  of  Mauser  and  Martini-Henry  cartridges,  but  there 
was  scarcely  any  artillery  ammunition.  Only  four  Krupp 
twelve-pounders,  one  Maxim,  and  one  Vickers-Maxim 
were  found. 

The  position  south  of  the  river  was  protected  with 
remarkable  trenches  that  looked  like  split  dumb-bells. 
They  were  banked  with  sand  bags  waist  high  and  the  ends 
were  deep  and  ^  overhanging.  There  were  many  bags 
filled  with  flour,  bread  and  cartridges.  Probably  not  more 
than  three  persons  lived  in  each  trench. 

The  prisoners  look  more  like  an  irregular  horde  than 
soldiers.  There  are  many  boys  and  gray-bearded  men 
among  them.  They  appear  to  be  well-fed,  but  tired. 
They  carry  a  rough  roll  like  that  used  by  farm  servants  in 
carrying  their  effects  when  they  are  changing  situations. 
General  Cronje  and  about  a  dozen  others  alone  looked 
like  men  of  position.  Even  the  uniformed  Orange  Free 
State  artillerists  were  ragged. 

All  the  prisoners  accepted  their  position  complacently. 
General  Cronje  sat  silently  smoking  under  the  trees  near 
headquarters.  The  others  were  arranged  in  rows  on  the 
veldt  according  to  their  commandos. 

About  fifty  children  and  women  traveled  in  their  own 
cape  carts. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

ON    TO    BL0EMFONTEIN. 

Roberts'  Army  Begins  March  toward  the  Free  State  Capital,  but  Meets  with 
Stubborn  Opposition — Battles  of  Poplar  Grove  and  Driefontein. 

FTER  the  capture  of  Cronje,  the  British  camp 
was  moved  four  miles  along  the  river  for  sani- 
tary reasons,  and  the  troops  given  a  much- 
needed  rest.  The  Boer  position  was  pretty 
well  located  about  four  miles  to  the  front.  It  had  an 
extent  of  more  than  eight  miles.  The  right  of  the  position 
consisted  of  a  high  long-backed  mountain  north  of  the 
river,  which  General  French  shelled  several  times. 
Apparently  the  space  between  this  mountain  and  the  river 
was  entrenched.  To  the  south  of  the  river,  however,  the 
Boer  lines  covered  most  ground.  A  few  days  before 
their  left  rested  on  some  kopjes  standing  detached  in  the 
middle  of  the  plain.  They  had  since  then  extended  this 
position  some  two  miles  further  south,  while  six  small 
kopjes  arose  from  the  plain  between  their  center  and  left. 
Between  their  center  and  the  river  extended  a  ridge, 
behind  which  the  enemy  were  able  to  move  unseen.  The 
weakness,  however,  of  the  whole  position  was  that  it  could 
easily  be  turned  in  either  direction.  The  country  was  flat 
and  water  abundant.  Recent  rains  had  filled  nearly  all 
the  dams. 

Lord  Roberts*  army  occupied  a  most  advantageous 
position.  The  Sixth  division  (Lieut. -Gen.  Kelly-Kenny) 
was  posted  on  the  right,  and  held  all  the  kopjes  for  a  dis- 

423 


ON  TO  BLOEMFONTEIN.  423 

tance  of  five  miles  south  of  the  Modder.  The  Seventh 
division,  under  Lieut. -General  Tucker,  was  in  the  center, 
immediately  south  of  the  river,  and  General  Colville,  with 
the  Ninth  division,  was  on  the  north  bank.  The  Cavalry 
brigade,  commanded  by  General  French,  was  posted  on 
the  left  front,  and  the  Mounted  Infantry,  under  Colonel 
Ridley-Martyr,  on  the  right  front. 

Such  were  the  relative  positions  of  the  troops  when 
Lord  Roberts  began  his  attack  preparatory  to  his  march 
upon  Bloemfontein.  On  March  7  he  executed  a  brilliant 
flanking  movement  upon  the  Boer  position. 

The  advance  was  made  with  the  Ninth  division  on  the 
north  bank,  and  the  Sixth  and  Seventh  divisions,  the 
Guards  brigade,  and  the  Cavalry  division  on  the  south 
bank.  The  Boer  position,  which  was  extremely  strong, 
extended  for  four  miles  to  the  north  and  eleven  miles  to 
the  south  of  the  river.  It  was  provided  with  a  second  line 
of  entrenchments,  a  direct  attack  on  which  would  have 
entailed  heavy  losses.  The  cavalry  moved  round  the 
left  flank,  an  operation  which  involved  a  wide  detour, 
resulting  in  very  great  fatigue  to  the  horses.  Nevertheless 
the  Horse  Artillery  did  considerable  execution.  The 
Sixth  division  followed,  and  the  Boers,  finding  their  posi- 
tion no  longer  tenable,  beat  a  precipitate  retreat,  leaving 
behind  them  a  gun  and  large  quantities  of  stores.  They 
fled  to  the  north  and  east,  with  the  mounted  troops  in 
pursuit. 

Everything  being  in  readiness  for  an  attack  on  the 
Boer  force  opposed  to  him.  Lord  Roberts  dispatched 
his  Cavalry  brigade  on  a  wide  turning  movement  on  Tues- 
day afternoon,  March  7.  The  cavalry  crossed  the  Modder 
at  Koodoosrand  Drift  to  the  south  bank,  and  made  a 
rapid  night  march  toward  the  east  flank  of  the  Boer  posi- 


424  ON   TO  BLOEMFONTEIN. 

tion,  which  by  this  time  extended  for  fully  twelve  miles. 
At  the  same  time  the  Sixth  division,  supported  by  the 
Ninth  division,  commenced  to  move  forward  on  the  north 
side  of  the  river  abreast  of  this  column,  but  on  the  south 
side  the  Seventh  division  advanced,  supported  by  the 
Guards  brigade.  In  the  center  was  the  Naval  brigade. 
The  British  guns  occupied  an  advantageous  position  on  a 
high  kopje.  It  was  about  six  o'clock  on  Wednesday 
morning,  March  8,  when  the  British  right  center  came  in 
contact  with  the  Boers  and  opened  a  heavy  fire  on  a  series 
of  small  kopjes,  which  formed  the  advanced  positions  of 
the  Boer  fortifications.  The  Boers  were  evidently  com- 
pletely surprised,  and  they  at  once  began  to  give  way 
before  the  attack.  This  retreat  soon  developed  into  a 
precipitate  flight,  resulting  in  the  collapse  of  the  whole  left 
flank  of  the  Boers.  During  this  retreat  the  British  sailors 
did  splendid  work  with  their  Naval  guns,  the  Boers  losing 
considerably.  In  the  meantime  General  French,  with  the 
Cavalry  brigade,  had  made  a  wide  detour,  and  success- 
fully turned  the  Boers'  position.  His  cavalry  pursued  the 
flying  Boers,  greatly  harassing  their  retreat.  In  this  work 
General  French  was  virtually  engaged  all  day.  The 
Boers  made  no  stand  during  the  whole  of  the  battle, 
except  on  one  occasion  when  a  detachment  of  British 
cavalry  had  to  dismount  and  for  a  short  time  were  hotly 
engaged.  The  British  infantry  were  practically  not 
engaged  in  the  fight,  with  the  exception  of  the  Ninth 
division,  who  captured  a  kopje  toward  the  north,  in  which 
operation  they  were  well  supported  by  three  Naval  12- 
pounders.  During  the  retreat  of  the  Boers  seven  batteries 
of  horse  artillery  joined  in  the  pursuit,  and  played  with 
telling  effect  upon  them.  They  were  undoubtedly  non- 
plussed  by  Lord   Roberts'   tactics.     They  appeared   to 


ON   TO  BLOEMFONTEIN.  425 

miss  the  usual  frontal  attack  to  which  they  had  become 
accustomed.  Before  noon  the  whole  force,  numbering 
about  15,000,  were  in  full  retreat  to  the  north  and  east. 
During  the  retreat  the  British  came  upon  the  Russian 
and  Dutch  attaches  with  the  Boer  force.  It  appears  that 
the  wagon  in  which  they  were  traveling  had  broken  down, 
and  they  had  been  left  to  take  care  of  themselves.  On 
Wednesday  night  the  British  bivouacked  at  Poplar 
Grove.  Lord  Roberts  and  Lord  Kitchener  were  present 
during  the  battle  directing  the  operations,  which  had  been 
completely  successful. 

The  details  of  this  battle  which  is  officially  known  as 
the  battle  of  Poplar  Grove,  are  as  follows:  The  first  brush 
with  the  enemy  took  place  on  a  small  group  of  kopjes 
called  "The  Seven  Sisters,"  which  formed  an  advance 
post  on  their  left.  A  farmhouse  lay  immediately  below. 
The  Boers,  who  were  carefully  hidden  behind  a  ridge, 
allowed  the  scouts  to  draw  near  to  the  farmhouse,  when 
they  opened  fire  and  drove  them  back  with  some  loss. 
The  Naval  guns,  in  the  center,  at  once  shelled  the  posi- 
tion, making  splendid  practice,  and  compelled  the  Boers 
to  evacuate  it.  While  they  were  retreating  they  were 
caught  by  the  fire  of  the  mounted  infantry  and  a  number 
of  them  were  killed  and  wounded.  Subsequently  C  squad- 
ron of  the  Ninth  Lancers,  led  by  Captain  Lund,  got  to 
close  quarters  with  the  Boers,  who  poured  in  a  deadly  fire, 
wounded  23  out  of  35.  The  Boers  allowed  the  wounded 
to  be  brought  out,  and  then  retired  rapidly  from  their  left 
towards  the  center,  throwing  out  a  rearguard  to  check  the 
advance  of  the  cavalry.  They  succeeded  in  getting  back 
their  guns  to  another  line  of  kopjes  and  ridges,  along 
which  they  took  up  extended  order,  and  kept  up  a  hot 
fusillade  at  the  cavalry  at  a  range  of  800  yards.     General 


426  ON  TO  BLOEMFONTEIN. 

French  himself  was  the  center  of  an  extremely  warm  fire. 
The  Boer  guns  also  threw  some  shells,  but  did  no  damage. 
The  cavalry  again  moved  round  the  Boer  left,  but  the 
Boers  repeated  their  tactics,  and  once  more  fell  back, 
their  rearguard  holding  a  flat-topped  kopje  and  a  slight 
ridge  extending  in  a  southeasterly  direction,  and  again 
getting  in  front  of  the  mounted  men.  This,  and  every 
other  position  open  to  defense,  they  held  with  great  courage 
and  tenacity,  while  the  rest  of  their  force  beat  a  hasty 
retreat.  General  French  pursued  them  until  Aightfall,  his 
horse  artillery  doing  considerable  execution.  But  he  was' 
obliged  to  return  to  camp,  as  his  horses  were  thoroughly 
exhausted,  having  covered  fully  forty  miles. 

At  several  points  during  the  battle  the  Boers  suffered 
severely,  chiefly  from  the  Maxim  guns,  which  had  more 
than  one  opportunity  for  doing  effective  work  in  their 
ranks.  The  Boers,  who  left  their  laagers  in  great  haste, 
abandoned  quantities  of  tents,  wagons,  and  provisions, 
including  bread,  which  the  British  troops  regarded  as  a 
luxury.  A  large  supply  of  ammunition  was  also  left  be- 
hind. On  the  left  of  the  advance  General  Colville,  com- 
manding the  Ninth  division,  captured  a  Krupp  gun  on 
the  top  of  a  large  flat  kopje,  which  was  taken  by  the 
Shropshire  Light  Infantry  without  opposition,  the  Boers 
having  quitted  the  spot  hurriedly.  The  Canadians,  who 
were  on  the  left  of  the  Shropshires,  and,  consequently, 
formed  the  extreme  left  of  the  line,  were  sent  forward  to 
turn  the  kopje  before  its  evacuation  was  discovered.  The 
battle  may  be  described  as  a  successful  scuttle  on  the  part 
of  the  Boers,  who  were  at  times  swept  before  the  enemy's 
troops  like  chaff  before  the  wind.  Indeed,  the  British 
had  some  difficulty  in  keeping  up  wjth  them,  so  precipi- 
tate was  their  retreat.     The  deployment  and  advance  of 


ON  TO  BLOEMFONTEIN,  427 

the  infantry  presented  a  magnificent  spectacle.  The 
troops  stretched  in  an  unbroken  Hne  over  the  green  veldt 
for  the  distance  of  half  a  day's  journey,  and  moved  for- 
ward with  irresistible  sweep  like  an  army  of  young  locusts. 
They  covered  fifteen  miles  with  very  little  food  or  water; 
in  fact,  one  of  the  most  striking  features  of  the  campaign 
is  the  power  of  endurance  they  displayed. 

President  Kruger  was  present  far  in  the  rear  and  tried 
to  arrest  the  flight  of  the  retreating  enemy,  who,  how- 
ever, refused  to  stop.  The  Bloemfontein  police  also 
attempted  to  stop  the  retreat  of  the  Free  Staters.  The 
president  had  a  narrow  escape.  When  he  was  being  hur- 
ried from  the  field  by  some  of  his  officers  a  shell  burst 
upon  a  spot  where  he  had  been  standing  five  seconds 
before.  After  this  incident  he  was  persuaded  to  get  in  his 
carriage  and  was  driven  rapidly  toward  Bloemfontein. 

The  official  report  of  the  battle  is  contained  in  the  fol- 
lowing three  telegrams  from  Lord  Roberts: 

OsFONTEiN,  March  7. — Our  operations  to-day  promise 
to  be  a  great  success.  The  enemy  occupied  position  four 
miles  north  and  eleven  miles  south  of  Modder  River.  I 
placed  Colville's  division  on  north  bank,  Kelly-Kenny's 
and  Tucker's,  with  Cavalry  division,  oa  south  bank.  The 
Cavalry  division  succeeded  in  turning  the  left  flank, 
opening  the  road  for  the  Sixth  division,  which  is  advanc- 
ing without  having  been  obliged  to  fire  a  shot  up  to  the 
present  time  (12  noon).  Enemy  are  in  full  retreat  toward 
north'  and  east,  being  closely  followed  by  Cavalry,  Horse 
Artillery,  and  Mounted  Infantry,  while  Seventh  (Tucker's) 
and  Ninth  (Colville's)  divisions,  and  Guards  brigade, 
under  Pole- Care w,  are  making  their  way  across  the  river 
at  Poplar's  Drift,  where  I  propose  to  make  my  headquar- 


428  ON   TO  BLOEMFONTEIN. 

ters  this  evening.  Our  casualties  will,  I  trust,  be  few,  as 
the  enemy  were  quite  unprepared  for  being  attacked  by 
the  flank  and  having  their  communications  with  Bloem- 
fontein  threatened.  Roberts. 

Poplar  Grove,  March  7. — We  have  had  a  very  suc- 
cessful day,  and  completely  routed  the  enemy,  who  are  in 
full  retreat.  The  position  they  occupied  is  extremely 
strong  and  cunningly  arranged,  with  a  second  line  of 
entrenchments,  which  would  have  caused  us  heavy  loss 
had  a  direct  attack  been  made.  The  turning  movement 
was  necessarily  wide  owing  to  the  nature  of  the  ground, 
and  the  cavalry  and  horse  artillery  horses  are  much  done 
up.  The  fighting  was  practically  confined  to  the  Cavalry 
division,  which,  as  usual,  did  exceedingly  well,  and 
French  reports  that  the  horse  artillery  batteries  did  a 
great  deal  of  execution  amongst  the  enemy.  Our  casual- 
ties number  about  fifty.  I  regret  to  say  that  Lieut.  Kes- 
wick, 12th  Lancers,  was  killed,  and  Lieut.  Bailey,  of  the 
same  regiment,  severely  wounded;  Lieut,  de  Crespigny, 
2d  Light  Guards,  also  severely  wounded.  Generals  De 
Wet  and  Delarey  were  in  command  of  the  Boer  forces. 

Roberts. 
* 

Poplar  Grove,  March  8. — Two  brigades  cavalry,  with 
horse  artillery  and  Sixth  (Kelly-Kenny's)  division  of  in- 
fantry marched  to-day  ten  miles  eastwards.  The  Boers 
were  quite  taken  by  surprise  yesterday,  and  moved  off  so 
rapidly  that  they  left  their  cooked  dinners  behind  fhem. 
We  captured  a  Krupp  gun,  several  tents  and  wagons. 
Total  casualties  were — Killed:  Lietit.  Keswick,  12th  Lan- 
cers; Lieut.  Frieslick,  ist  Grahamstown  Volunteers. 
Wounded:  Lieut.  P.  J.  Bailey,  12th  Lancers  (severely); 


ON  TO  BLOEMFONTEIN.  429 

Lieut.  Smith,   Shropshire  Light   Infantry  (severely;  this, 
officer  is  believed  to  have  been  picked  up  by  Boer  ambu- 
lance).    One  man  Life  Guards  and  twelve  Lancers  killed, 
forty-six  men  wounded  and  one  missing.  Roberts. 

THE    BATTLE    OF    DRIEFONTEIN. 

The  army  left  Poplar  Grove  early  on  March  10.  At  10 
o'clock,  French's  cavalry  unexpectedly  found  the  Boers  in 
occupation  of  a  range  of  kopjes  at  Driefontein,  eight  miles 
south  of  Abraham's  Drift.  The  Boers  had  strongly  en- 
trenched themselves  here.  The  cavalry  immediately 
attempted  to  outflank  them  under  a  heavy  shell  and  Vick- 
ers- Maxim  fire.  Leaving  a  thin  containing  line  the  Second 
division  hurriedly  pushed  on  southward  and  found  the  Boer 
position  to  be  of  great  length.  At  1 130  p.  m.  the  Sixth  divi- 
sion came  up  to  the  attack,  and  threw  forward  the  Thir- 
teenth brigade,  led  by  the  Buffs,  and  the  Eighteenth 
brigade,  led  by  the  Welsh  regiment.  These  two 
brigades  proceeded  to  clear  the  kopjes  under  a  hot 
and  bewildering  fire.  The  Boer  resistance  was  seri- 
ous and  cleverly  planned.  They  succeeded  in  a 
smart  doubling  movement  and  poured  in  a  heavy 
enfilading  fire  from  the  east  and  southwest  kopjes 
near  the  main  ridge.  The  British  artillery,  which  'had 
by  this  time  got  to  work,  replied  vigorously  to  the 
Boer  fire,  and  made  magnificent  practice.  Despite 
this  fact,  their  guns  were  clearly  outranged  by  two  Els- 
wick  1 2 -pounders  which  the  Boers  had  in  action.  The 
Ninth  division  with  the  Guards  arrived  at  four  o'clock, 
but  was  too  late  to  take  part  in  the  action.  Many  signal 
acts  of  bravery  were  performed  during  the  engagement, 
especially  in  connection  with  the  supply  of  ammunition. 


430  ON  TO  BLOEMFONTEIN. 

■  which  ran  short  because  of  the  men  having  to  march  thir- 
teen miles  and  their  being  reheved  of  fifty  rounds.  The 
storming  of  the  Alexander  kopje  by  the  Welsh  regiment 
was  a  fine  piece  of  work.  The  Welshmen  showed  mar- 
velous skill  in  securing  every  particle  of  cover  while  advanc- 
ing. They  were  supported  by  a  heavy  artillery  fire,  and 
were  almost  invisible  except  when  they  were  actually 
moving.  Finally,  the  order  was  given  to  fix  bayonets, 
and  with  great  dash  the  top  of  the  hill  was  cleared. 

This  was  one  of  the  smartest  engagements  following 
Cronje's  surrender.  The  details  of  the  battle  were  as  fol- 
lows: 

After  leaving  his  camp  at  Poplar  Grove,  Lord  Rob- 
erts divided  his  force  into  three  portions,  all  advancing 
towards  Bloemfontein.  On  the  right  General  Tucker's 
division,  with  the  Gordons  and  a  cavalry  brigade,  moved 
along  the  Petrusberg  road.  The  center  column,  which 
Lord  Roberts  himself  accompanied,  consisted  of  General 
Colville's  division.  General  Pole-Carew's  Guards'  brigade, 
and  General  Broadwaod's  brigade  of  cavalry.  General 
French  commanded  the  left  column,  which  advanced 
along  the  Modder.  It  consisted  of  Colonel  Porter's 
cavalry  brigade  and  General  Kelly-Kenny's  division.  In 
the  morning,  about  lo.  General  Broadwood's  brigade, 
which  was  marching  in  front  of  the  center  column,  came 
in  contact  with  the  Boers,  who  were  holding  a  double 
semi-circular  line  of  kopjes.  These  were  promptly 
shelled,  and  they  were  driven  from  the  low  ridges  project- 
ing in  front  of  their  position.  General  Broadwood  threw 
his  mounted  infantry  into  the  evacuated  position,  which 
they  held  until  the  arrival  of  reinforcements.  Meanwhile, 
Colonel  Porter  had  also  come  into  touch  with  the  Boer 
right.     He  sent  word  to  General  French,  who   diverted 


ON  TO  BLOEMFONTEIN.  431 

the  whole  of  his  infantry  division  south  towards  the  Boers, 
whose  position  they  reached  about  i  o'clock,  having 
marched  over  20  miles.  Immediately  he  was  relieved  by 
their  presence,  General  Broadwood  took  his  cavalry  round 
to  the  left,  where  he  had  already  seized  a  strong  kopje. 
When  he  reached  the  reverse  of  the  position  he  was 
shelled  by  the  Boer's  nine-pounder.  At  the  point  whence 
the  fire  from  the  Boer  gun  proceeded  a  white  flag  was 
ultimately  hoisted,  but  when  the  force  arrived  to  take 
possession  they  had  disappeared.  When  night  came 
General  Broadwood  had  worked  eight  miles  to  the  Boer's 
rear. 

A  fairly  heavy  engagement  was  meanwhile  proceeding 
at  the  center  Boer  position,  which  resembled  an  inverted 
figure  3.  The  center  thus  consisted  of  a  line  of  low  kopjes, 
which  ran  far  out  into  the  middle  of  the  plain.  Having 
gained  a  foothold  here  General  Kelly-Kenny  held  his 
opponents,  while  making  a  direct  attack  on  the  north  of 
their  center,  where  a  low,  detached  ridge  situated  some 
distance  from  a  low  kopje  held  by  them  allowed  of  the 
near  approach  of  the  attacking  force  under  shelter.  The 
Boers  perceived  the  movement,  and  poured  a  heavy  shell- 
fire  into  the  British,  without,  however,  delaying  the 
advance  of  the  Welsh  regiment,  who  formed  the  first  line 
of  the  attacking  force.  The  Boers,  although  possessing 
no  natural  entrenchments,  held  a  strong,  safe  position, 
huge  boulders  affording  them  splendid  cover. 

The  horse  battery  about  2  o'clock  prepared  the  way 
for  the  infantry  advance,  shelling  the  Boer  center  vigor- 
ously from  the  south.  Here  occurred  an  instance  of  the 
admirable  coolness  and  splendid  behavior  of  artillery- 
men. As  the  battery  came  into  action  the  Boers  opened 
a  heavy  and  accurate  fire  on  it  with  their  Vickers-Maxim, 


432  ON   TO  BLOEMFONTEIN. 

killing  outright  two  men  and  several  horses.  The  men 
were  engaged  in  unhitching  the  gun  at  the  time,  but 
within  two  minutes  the  same  gun  fired  the  first  shot,  the 
artillerymen  carrying  the  ammunition  over  the  bodies  of 
their  fallen  comrades.  U  battery,  which  occupied  a  posi- 
tioii  to  the  north  of  the  Boer  center,  shelled  the  ridge 
thoroughly,  but  on  the  arrival  of  the  Seventy-sixth  field 
battery  moved  close  to  T  battery.  The  Seventy-sixth  bat- 
tery then  took  up  a  position  close  to  the  Boer  position, 
where  it  was  able  effectively  to  shell  the  ridge  towards 
which  the  Welsh  were  moving.  The  gunners  encountered 
a  heavy  rifle  fire,  but  they  worked  their  guns  coolly  and 
unconcernedly  with  great  effect. 

All  this  time  the  Welsh  regiment,  supported  by  the 
Essex  and  Gloucesters,  were  advancing  steadily  under 
heavy  fire,  taking  advantage  of  all  the  cover  available. 
They  finally  gained  the  crest  of  the  ridge,  where  they 
found  excellent  shelter.  A  heavy  musketry  duel  then 
ensued  at  about  500  yards.  The  Yorkshires,  who,  sup- 
ported by  the  Buffs,  occupied  a  kopje  in  the  center  of  the 
position,  considerably  helped  to  keep  down  the  enemy's 
fire,  but  the  Boers  resisted  stubbornly,  and  the  fighting 
proved  long  and  hard-contested.  The  Boer  guns  shelled 
incessantly,  and  their  rifle  fire  was  well  maintained,  though 
sometimes  the  shooting  was  wild.  Just  before  dusk  the 
Welsh  rushed  tht  position  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet, 
taking  a  kopje,  and  clearing  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
ridge.  The  scene  was  witnessed  by  Lord  Roberts 
through  a  telescope.  The  Boers  were  distinctly  seen 
fleeing.  Two  mounted  men  were  seen  to  fall.  Their 
horses  rolled  over,  but  one  man  rose  and  continued  his 
flight  on  foot.  The  center  Boer  position,  which  gave  all 
the  trouble  to  the   British,  proved  to  .be  in  the  shape  of 


OPENING  A   GOLD   REEF. 


GOLD   DIGGER'S   HUT. 


ON   TO  BLOEMFONTEIN.  435 

the  letter  S.  The  Yorkshires,  holding  the  lowest  loop, 
swept  the  upper  loop,  while  the  Welsh  advanced  directly 
towards  the  upper  convex  curve. 

One  feature  of  the  day  was  the  magnificent  marching 
of  General  Kelly-Kenny's  division  across  the  veldt  under 
a  hot  cloudless  sky,  followed  by  six  hours'  hard  fighting. 
Towards  dusk  the  center  and  left  column,  including  Lord 
Roberts  and  staff,  arrived  at  a  farmhouse  situated  in  the 
basin  formed  by  the  semicircle  of  the  Boer  position.  The 
sight  was  wonderfully  picturesque,  as  mass  after  mass 
of  troops  and  transport  appeared  over  the  ridge  and 
gradually  filled  the  basin.  The  appearance  of  this 
formidable  force,  combined  with  the  loss  of  their  center 
position,  doubtless  caused  the  hurried  flight  of  the  Boers. 
The  Boer  force  was  commanded  by  Commandant  Delarey. 

The  British  claim  that  a  great  proportion  of  their 
losses  at  Driefontein  on  March  10  were  the  result  of  a 
flagrant  act  of  treachery  on  the  part  of  the  enemy.  Ac- 
cording to  their  report,  a  Boer  commando  was  backing 
out  of  artillery  fire  and  nearing  the  open  veldt,  where  they 
would  be  subjected  to  a  severe  raking  from  the  big  guns, 
while  a  squadron  of  British  mounted  infantry  was  hover- 
ing on  their  flank  ready  to  pursue  them.  Recognizing 
the  great  peril  of  their  situation,  a  large  company  of 
Boers  hoisted  a  white  flag,  held  up  their  hands,  and 
threw  down  their  arms  as  a  sign  of  surrender.  The 
British  thereon  advanced  without  hesitation  to  accept  the 
surrender,  when  another  section  poured  repeated  volleys 
into  the  British  ranks. 

The  oflicial  report  of  the  battle  of  Driefontein,  which 
the  Boers  call  the  battle  of  Abraham's  Kraal,  is  found  in 
the  following  dispatches  of  the  British  and  Boer  com- 
manders, respectively: 

25 


436  ON  TO  BLOEMFONTEIN. 

Driefontein,  March  ii,  7:15  a.  m. — TKe  enemy 
opposed  us  throughout  yesterday's  march,  and,  from  their 
intimate  knowledge  of  the  country,  gave  us  considerable 
trouble.  Owing,  however,  to  the  admirable  conduct  of 
the  troops  they  were  unable  to  prevent  us  reaching  our 
destination.  The  brunt  of  the  fighting  fell  on  Kelly- 
Kenny's  division,  two  battalions  of  which — the  Welsh  and 
the  Essex — turned  the  Boers  out  of  two  strong  positions 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  I  have  not  been  able,  as  yet, 
to  get  the  exact  number  of  casualties. 

Driefontein,  March  11,  9:55  a.  m. — I  cannot  get  pre- 
cise number  of  casualties  before  the  march,  but  will  com- 
municate it  as  soon  as  possible.  The  Boers  suffered 
heavily.  One  hundred  and  two  of  their  dead  were  left  on 
the  ground.     We  captured  about  twenty  prisoners. 

Roberts. 

Driefontein,  March  11,  9:45  a.  m. — The  following 
telegram  has  been  addressed  by  me  to  their  honors  the 
State  Presidents  of  the  Orange  Free  State  and  South 
African  Republic :  '  'Another  instance  having  occurred  of  a 
gross  abuse  of  the  white  flag  and  the  signal  of  holding  up 
the  hands  in  token  of  surrender,  it  is  my  duty  to  inform 
your  Honors  that  if  such  abuse  occurs  again  I  shall  be 
most  reluctantly  compelled  to  order  my  troops  to  disregard 
the  white  flag  entirely.  The  instance  occurred  on  the 
kopje  east  of  Driefontein  Farm  yesterday  evening,  and 
was  witnessed  by  several  of  my  own  staff  officers  as  well 
as  by  myself,  and  resulted  in  the  wounding  of  several  of 
my  officers  and  men.  A  large  quantitive  of  explosive 
bullets'  of  three  different  kinds  was  found  in  Cronje's 
laager,  and  after  every  engagement  with  your  honors' 
troops.     Such  breaches  of  the  recognized  usages  of  war 


.  ON  TO  BLOEMFONTEIN.  437 

and  of  the  Geneva  convention  are  a  disgrace  to  any  civi- 
lized power.  A  copy  of  this  telegram  has  been  sent  to  my 
government,  with  a  request  that  it  may  be  communicated 
to  all  neutral  powers."  koberts. 

With  respect  to  the  fighting  on  March  10,  at  Abra- 
ham's Kraal,  on  the  Kimberley-Bloemfontein  road, 
General  Delarey  reported  as  follows  by  telegraph  to  the 
Transvaal  government;  The  English  forces,  which  I 
estimate  at  40,000,  approached  our  positions  from  two 
directions.  They  first  shelled  the  positions  occupied  by 
General  Cellier's  artillery,  and  this  attack  was  followed  by 
a  musketry  engagement,  during  which  two  of  our  men 
were  wounded.  The  British  discovered  that  the  attempt 
to  break  through  at  this  point  was  hopeless,  and  a  second 
assault  was  made  upon  our  left  flank,  which  was  scattered 
in  a  position  covering  the  top  of  the  road  where  I  and  300 
men  were  stationed.  To  gain  possession  of  these  hills  was 
of  considerable  strategic  importance  to  the  British;  and, 
the  Federals  appreciating  this,  a  heavy  engagement 
occurred.  It  lasted  from  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  till 
sundown.  The  burghers  fought  like  heroes,  and  three 
times  repulsed  the  masses  of  the  enemy  which  were  thrown 
against  them.  The  British  kept  relieving  their  tired  men, 
but  each  and  every  attempt  to  storm  our  position  was  de- 
feated. At  sundown  there  were  not  fifty  yards  between 
us.     The  British  lost  heavily.  Delarey. 

The  continuation  of  Lord  Roberts'  march  toward 
Bloemfontein -is  told  in  the  following  dispatches: 

Ventersvlei,  March  12,  9:30  p.  m. — Our  march  to-day 
was  again  unopposed.  We  are  now  about  eighteen  miles 
from  Bloemfontein.    The  Cavalry  division  is  astride  of  the 


438  ON   TO  BLOEMFONTEIN. 

railway  six  miles  south  of  Bloemfontein.     There  are  321 
wounded  men  and  about  -60  or  70  killed  and  missing. 

Roberts. 
# 
Ventersvlei,  March  13,  5:20. — I  directed  General 
French,  if  there  was  time  before  dark,  to  seize  the  railway 
station  at  Bloemfontein,  and  thus  secure  the  rolling  stock. 
At  midnight  I  received  a  report  from  him  that  after  con- 
siderable opposition  he  has  been  able  to  occupy  two  hills 
close  to  the  railway  station,  and  which  command  Bloem- 
fontein. A  brother  of  President  Steyn  has  been  made 
prisoner,  the  telegraph  line  leading  northwards  cut,  and 
the  railway  broken  up.  I  am  now  starting  with. the  Third 
cavalry  brigade  (which  I  called  up  from  Seventh  division 
near  Petrusburg  yesterday)  and  the  mounted  infantry  to 
reinforce  cavalry  division.  The  rest  of  the  force  follows 
as  quickly  as  possible. 


to 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 
SURRENDER    OF    BLOEMFONTEIN. 

Boers  Make  no  Defense  of  their  Capital,  but  Retreat  to  Kroonstad — 
Raising  the  English  Flag  over  the  Presidency  Building. 

N  MONDAY  night,  March  12,  Lord  Roberts,  with 
Generals  Kelly-Kenny's  and  Colville's  divisions, 
the  Guards  brigade,  and  the  Mounted  Infantry, 
lay  at  Ventersvlei,  about  fourteen  miles  from 
Bloemfontein,  while  General  French,  having  cut  the  rail- 
way and  telegraph  lines,  had  experienced  a  shght  skirmish 
with  the  enemy  holding  the  kopjes  on  the  southeast  side 
of  the  town.  Early  on  Tuesday  morning  the  First  cav- 
alry brigade  moved  forward  and  occupied  slowly  several 
kopjes  to  the  east  of  the  town,  which  they  commanded. 
The  Boers  still  remained  in  position  on  the  kopjes  to  the 
southwest,  but  the  horse  artillery  drove  them  off.  Gen- 
eral French  then  sent  out  scouts  and  patrols  to  feel  their 
way  to  the  town.  Perceiving  this,  three  newspaper  cor- 
respondents galloped  forward  and  entered  the  town  after 
a  hard  race,  which  the  Australian  Pressman  won.  At  the 
entrance  to  the  town,  two  bicyclists,  who  in  their  fright  let 
their  bicycles  fall,  held  up  their  hands  in  token  of  surren- 
der, and  the  correspondents  then  slackened  pace,  and  at 
once  entered  the  town.,  They  found  it  wearing  its  every- 
day aspect.  The  pebple  were  shopping  and  taking  their 
morning  walks;  indeed,  they  did  not  seem  to  regard  the 
correspondents  at  all  as  strangers.  Gradually,  however,  the 
people  who  had  seen  them  galloping  across  the  plain  from 

439 


440  SURRENDER   OF  BLOEMFONTEIN. 

the  direction  of  the  British  army  arrived,  and  then  it  rap- 
idly became  known  that  they  were  the  forerunners  of  the 
British  occupation.  They  were  greeted  everywhere  cor- 
dially and  respectfully,  and  soon  arrived  at  the  market 
square.  Thence  they  were  conducted  to  the  club,  where 
they  met  Mr.  Fraser,  a  member  of  the  executive,  the 
Mayor  of  Bloemfontein,  the  acting  government  secretary, 
the  landdrost,  and  other  officials.  They  persuaded  the 
officials  to  take  carriages  out  to  meet  the  British  force,  and 
this  they  did.  Half-way  out  they  met  Lieut.  Chester  Mas- 
ters, with  three  Rimington  scouts,  and  he  was  the  first 
British  officer  to  victoriously  enter  Bloemfontein.  Grad- 
ually, as  they  crossed  the  plain  towards  the  kopjes  where 
the  British  artillery  was  stationed,  they  could  perceive  the 
cavalry  closing  in  around  the  town  like  a  huge  net.  When 
they  arrived  opposite  the  kopje  where  Lord  Roberts  was 
stationed,  the  carriages  stopped.  A  correspondent  rode 
up  to  the  kopje,  and  had  the  honor  of  announcing  to  Lord 
Roberts  that  Bloemfontein  had  surrendered.  A  little 
later  the  official  deputation,  having  climbed  the  kopje, 
approached  the  commander-in-chief,  who  went  forward  to 
meet  them.  The  scene  was  picturesque  in  the  extreme. 
The  kopje  was  characteristic  of  those  eminences  so  be- 
loved by  the  Boers.  Only  a  few  yards  away  were  the 
guns  of  T  battery  pointing  their  grim  mouths  toward  the 
late  Boer  position,  while  the  zinc  roofs  of  Bloemfontein 
shone  in  the  distance.  When  the  deputation  arrived  in 
front  of  Lord  Roberts  they  saluted  him  most  respectfully, 
and  one  of  their  number,  standing  forward,  declared  that 
the  town  was  without  defense  and  wished  to  •  surrender, 
at  the  same  time  expressing  a  hope  that  the  British  com- 
mander-in-chief would  protect  the  lives  and  property  of 
the  inhabitants.     Lord  Roberts  replied  that  provided  no 


SURRENDER   OF  BLOEMFONTEIN.  441 

further  opposition  was  offered  he  would  undertake  to 
guarantee  the  lives  and  property  of  the  people.  The 
interview  was  altogether  of  a  most  cordial  character. 
There  was  nothing  of  sullenness  in  the  demeanor  of  the 
deputation,  whose  members  rather  created  the  impression 
of  being  greatly  relieved  by  the  presence  of  the  British 
troops.  Lord  Roberts  informed  the  deputation  that  it 
was  his  intention  to  enter  the  capital  in  state.  Thereupon 
the  deputation  departed  to  inform  the  townspeople.  A 
little  delay  followed  while  Lord  Roberts  made  the  neces- 
sary military  dispositions,  ordering  the  First  brigade  to 
follow  and  take  possession  of  the  town. 

The  commander-in-chief  and  his  staff,  with  the  mili- 
tary attaches,  then  descended  the  kopje.  Having  arrived 
on  the  plain  they  waited  there  until  the  cavalry  ap- 
proached, and  then  proceeded  toward  Bloemfontein  across 
the  plain,  the  order  being,  first  Lord  Roberts  and  his 
personal  staff,  then  the  general  staff  and  the  military 
attaches. 

As  the  procession,  headed  by  Lord  Roberts  and  his 
staff,  approached  the  town,  great  commotion  was  observa- 
ble among  the  inhabitants.  Mr.  Collins,  the  Free  State 
secretary,  met  the  commander-in-chief,  and  conducted 
him  into  the  town,  where  a  great  number  of  inhabitants, 
including  men,  women  and  children,  were  awaiting  his 
arrival.  Here  a  great  surprise  was  in  store  for  them. 
Instead  of  the  sullen,  scowling  faces  which  might  have 
been  looked  for  on  the  entry  of  the  victor  into  the  enemy's 
capital,  they  saw  only  bright  looks  and  fluttering  hand- 
kerchiefs, while  their  ears  were  greeted  with  wild  cheers. 
In  fact,  the  utmost  enthusiasm  prevailed.  It  is  true  that 
many  of  the  townspeople  remaining  were  British  or  of 
British  parentage,  but  still  the  extraordinary  cordial  nature 


442  SURRENDER   OF  BLOEMFONTEIN. 

of  the  reception  came  as  a  surprise.  Amid  such  rejoicings 
Lord  Roberts  reached  the  market  square,  whence  he  pro- 
ceeded to  the  ParHament  House,  and  thence  to  the  Presi-- 
dency.  Here  there  was  a  fresh  and  yet  more  impressive 
outburst  of  enthusiasm.  As  Lord  Roberts  entered  the 
front  garden  of  President  Steyn's  residence,  the  large 
crowd  outside  suddenly  started,  ' '  God  save  the  Queen, " 
and  they  sang  the  national  anthem  from  beginning  to  end 
with  tremendous  energy.  Every  one  stood  rigid,  and  the 
civilians  raised  their  hats.  When  the  anthem  was  finished 
there  was  a  mighty  outburst  of  cheering.  Capt.  Lord 
George  Scott  followed  Lord  Roberts,  bearing  a  silken 
Union  Jack,  which  had  been  worked  by  Lady  Roberts, 
and  in  one  corner  of  which  a  four-leafed  shamrock  was 
embroidered.  With  the  aid  of  Commander  the  Hon.  S. 
J.  Fortescue,  R.N.,  he  bent  the  flag  to  the  halyard,  and 
amid  hurrahs  ran  the  Union  Jack  up  over  the  town  of 
Bloemfontein.  The  scene  which  followed  will  remain 
engraved  on  the  memory  of  all  who  witnessed  it.  Half  a 
troop  of  cavalry  faced  the  gates  of  the  Presidency.  The 
crowd,  turning  around,  appeared  to  be  struck  with  the 
begrimed,  unshaven  faces  of  the  troopers,  in  their  soiled 
and  patched  khaki  uniforms,  everything  about  them  show- 
ing signs  of  hard  fighting.  Acting  apparently  on  the  im- 
pulse of  the  moment  the  crowd  roared  forth  the  song, 
"Tommy  Atkins,"  and  then  "The  Soldiers  of  the 
Queen."  The  men  sat  bolt  upright  on  their  horses, 
and  even  their  stolid  faces  relaxed  at  this  tribute  of 
admiration.  Immediately  the  ceremony  was  over,  Lord 
Roberts  ordered  measures  to  be  taken  for  the  protection 
of  the  town,  and  made  certain  military  dispositions.  Gen- 
eral Prettyman  was  appointed  Governor,  and  the  police 
arrangements  were  entrusted  to  him  pending  the  drafting 


SURRENDER   OF  BLOEMFONTEIN.  443 

of  further  regulations.  A  visit  was  paid  to  the  gaol, 
where  ,four  men  were  found  imprisoned  for  refusing  to 
fight  the  British.     They  were  at  once  released. 

Gradually,  that  portion  of  the  troops  necessary  to 
man  the  northern  heights  passed  through  the  town, 
meeting  everywhere  with  a  reception  which  could  only  be 
described  as  enthusiastic.  The  horse  batteries  were 
received  with  particular  warmth.  The  contrast  between 
the  well-fed,  comfortable-looking  citizens  and  the  gaunt 
gallant  gunners,  mounted  on  horses  worn  by  excessive 
work,  marching  stolidly  past  without  betraying  the  slight- 
est emotion,  was  most  striking.  By  this  time  the  plain 
outside  the  town  was  filling  with  regiments  of  infantry 
and  the  immense  transport  train  necessary  for  the  supply 
of  the  force.  As  the  masses  of  men,  wagons  and  ani- 
mals debouched  from  behind  the  ridges,  they  gave  the 
distant  spectator  the  impression  of  water  poured  into  the 
plain,  and  rolling  slowly  but  irresistibly  in  a  mighty  wave 
towards  the  town.  Gradually,  out  of  the  chaos  emerged 
order,  as  each  brigade,  with  its  transport,  established 
itself  with  its  own  hnes  running  regular  and  straight  for 
miles.  From  a  high  kopje  near  the  town  could  be  seen, 
in  the  remote  distance,  a  long  serpent  representing  regi- 
ment after  regiment  marching  upon  Bloemfontein. 

The  marching  of  the  army  corps  throughout  was 
superb.  The  Guards  brigade  marched  from  3  p.  m.  on 
Monday  till  i  p.  m.  on  Tuesday  with  two  and  a-half 
hours'  sleep,  but  every  man  in  the  force  was  willing  to 
work  till  he  dropped  for  Lord  Roberts.  All  the  troops 
realized  that  they  were  taking  part  in  the  most  famous 
march  of  recent  times.  Credit  is  due  in  a  very  high  de- 
gree to  Colonel  Richardson,  army  service  corps,  for  pro- 
visioning,   foraging,    and    transporting    40,000   men    and 


444  SURRENDER   OF  BLOEMFONTEIN. 

18,000  horses  daily  without  a  hitch  in  spite  of  the  change 
of  plans  consequent  upon  the  retreat  of  Cronje,  which 
seriously  upset  previous  arrangements. 

General  French  left  Ventersvlei  for  Leuw  Kop  at  one 
o'clock  on  Monday  and,  turning  north,  approached  the 
railway,  which  he  cut.  He  made  his  headquarters  at  Mr. 
John  Steyn's  house.  Mr.  Steyn  was  still  there,  and  he  was 
captured.  Mr.  Palmer,  a  member  of  the  executive,  who 
was  intercepted  at  3  o'clock,  was  given  an  ultimatum  and 
allowed  to  proceed.  A  squadron  of  Inniskillings  ap- 
proached the  Boer  position,  which  was  defended  by  a 
Cruezet  and  '  'pompom"  guns.  They  seized  the  low  outly- 
ing kopjes  commanding  the  wagon  laager.  A  squadron  of 
Grays,  moving  further  east,  was  forced  to  retire  owing  to 
a  heavy  rifle  fire  and  intricate  wire  fencing,  but  getting 
across  the  railway,  they  seized  the  easternmost  hills, 
which  made  good  the  position  commanding  the  town. 
This  his  troops  did  despite  the  artillery  fire,  which  was 
continued  long  after  dark  and  resumed  at  daylight. 
Nevertheless  the  advance  was  continued,  and  the  town 
was  entered  as  described. 

General  Prettyman,  the  Military  Governor  of  Bloem- 
fontein,  on  Thursday  issued  a 'proclamation  calling  upon 
all  burghers  within  a  radius  of  ten  miles  to  deliver  up  their 
arms  on  pain  of  confiscation  of  their  property. 

Lord  Roberts  addressed  congratulations  to  the  Guards 
on  the  splendid  manner  in  which  they  had  performed  the 
march  of  thirty-eight  miles  in  twenty-eight  hours.  He  said 
that  through  a  small  mistake  he  had  not  been  able  to 
march  into  Bloemfontein  at  the  head  of  the  brigade,  as 
was  intended,  but,  he  added,  '  'I  promise  you  I  will  lead 
you  into  Pretoria."  Three  battalions  of  the  Guards 
marched  through  the  town  on    Thursday.       They  pre- 


SURRENDER   OF  BLOEMFONTEIN.  445 

sented  a  magnificent  appearance,  in  spite  of  their  having 
seen  all  the  hardest  service  in  the  western  campaign. 

Lord  Roberts'  official  report  of  the  surrender  of 
Bloemfontein  is  contained  in  the  following  dispatch  to  the 
war  office : 

Bloemfontein,  March  13,  8:30?.  m. — By  the  help  of 
God  and  by  the  bravery  of  Her  Majesty's  soldiers,  the 
troops  under  my  command  have  taken  possession  of 
Bloemfontein.  The  British  flag  now  flies  over  the 
Presidency,  vacated  last  evening  by  Mr.  Steyn,  late 
president  of  the  Orange  Free  State.  Mr.  Fraser,  mem- 
ber of  the  late  executive  government,  the  mayor,  the  sec- 
retary of  the  late  government,  the  landdrost,  and  other 
officials,  met  me  two  miles  from  the  town  and  presented 
me  with  the  keys  of  the  public  offices.  The  enemy  have 
withdrawn  from  the  neighborhood  and  all  seems  quiet. 
The  inhabitants  of  Bloemfontein  gave  the  troops  a  cordial 
welcome.  Roberts. 

President  Steyn  established  the  Orange  Free  State 
seat  of  government  at  Kroonstad. 

It  will  be  remembered  that'  Lord  Roberts  complained 
to  the  Boer  presidents  of  alleged  violations  of  the  usages 
of  warfare.  To  this  he  received  a  reply  which  he  com- 
municated to  his  home  government  as  follows: 

Bloemfontein,  March  19. — I  have  received  the  fol- 
lowing reply  to  my  telegram.  No.  C414,  March  11,  to  the 
Presidents,  Orange  Free  State  and  South  African  Re- 
public:—  "Your  excellency's  telegram,  dispatched  at  9:45 
A.  M. ,  on  the  nth,  reached  me  yesterday.  Assure  you 
that  nothing  would  grieve  me  more  than  that  my  burghers 
should  make  themselves  guilty  of  a  deed  such  as  thsft  laid 
to  their  charge  by  you.  I  am,  however,  glad  to  say  that 
you  must  have  been    mistaken.      I  have  made  personal 


446  SURRENDER   OF  BLOEMFONTEIN% 

inquiry  of  General  Delarey,  who  was  in  command  of  our 
burghers   at   the   place   mentioned  by   you.     He   denies 
entirely   riiat   our   burghers  acted  as  stated  by  you,  but 
says  that  on  Saturday  (date  illegible)  the  British  troops, 
when  they  were  about  fifty  yards  from  our  position,  put 
up  their  hands  as  well  as  the  white  flag,  whilst  at  the 
same  time  your  cannon  bombarded  the  said   troops  as 
well,    with   the  result    that  Commandant    De  Beer  was 
wounded.     Yesterday  morning,  at  eight  o'clock,  the  head 
commandant  wrote  in  his  account  of  the  battle  as  follows: 
'  The  soldiers  hoisted  the  white  flag,  but  were  then  fired 
at    by  the  English  cannons  and   compelled    to   charge.' 
Perhaps  it  is  unknown  to  your  excellency  that  the  same 
thing  happened  at  Spion  Kop,  where,  when  a  portion  of  the 
troops  had  hoisted  the  white  flag  and  put  up  their  hands, 
and   whilst  our    burghers   were    busy   disarming    them, 
another  portion  of  the  troops  fired  on  our  burghers  and  on 
the  troops  who  had  surrendered;  in  consequence  thereof 
not  only  our  burghers,  but  some  of  the  British  troops  were 
killed.     It  has  also  been  reported  that  at  the  last  bal^tle 
on  the  Tugela  the  English  cannon  fired  on  the  troops  who 
had  surrendered.     With  reference  to  the  explosive  bullets 
found  in  General  Cronje's  laager  and  elsewhere,  I  can  give 
your  excellency  the  assurance  that  such  bullets  were  not 
purchased  or  allowed  by  the  government.     I  have,  how- 
ever, no  reason  to  doubt  your  statement,  as  I  know  that 
many  of  the  burghers  of  this   State  and  of   the  South 
African  Republic   took  a  large  number  of   Lee-Metford 
rifles,    dum    dum    and    other    bullets    from    the    British 
troops.     May  I  request  your  excellency,  as  the  cable  is 
closed  to  me,  to  make  my  reply  known  to  your  govern- 
ment and  to  the  neutral  powers  by  cable  ? 

(Signed)  State  President. 


SURRENDER   OF  BLOEMFONTEIN.  447 

Meanwhile  the  Pretoria  Federal  commandos  at 
Kroonstad  were  in  great  spirits,  ready,  and  even  defiant, 
awaiting  the  advance  of  the  British.  Both  Presidents 
addressed  a  vast  camp  meeting.  President  Kruger  made 
an  impassioned  appeal  to  the  burghers  to  maintain  the 
fight  for  freedom,  and  stated  that  he  was  certain  that  the 
ultimate  issue  would  result  in  the  independence  of  the 
republics  being  retained,  despite  the  temporary  occupa- 
tion of  Bloemfontein  by  the  British.  President  Steyn 
said  it  did  not  follow  that  the  Free  State  was  conquered 
because  the  capital  had  been  occupied.  England  had 
definitely  refused  to  grant  the  republics  their  independence, 
and  nothing  was  left  them  but  to  fight  to  the  last. 
During  the  six  months  that  war  had  lasted  the  Federals 
had  lost  less  than  1,000  killed.  The  war  was  really  now 
commencing,  and,  as  their  President,  he  warned  the 
burghers  not  to  believe  in  Lord  Roberts'  proclamation 
with  reference  to  the  laying  down  of  their  arms,  for  the 
British  had  failed  every  time  to  keep  solemn  treaties 
entered  into  with  them.  Sir  Alfred  Milner  had  publicly 
announced  that  the  Afrikanders  must  be  exterminated, 
knowing  thlat  the  republics  would  fight  to  the  end,  and  put 
their  trust  in  God.  President  Steyn's  appeal  roused  the 
burghers  to  positive  enthusiasm. 

The  following  is  the  text  of  Mr.  Kruger 's  scriptural 
exhortation  to  the  Boers:  "For  your  own  and  the  war 
officers'  information  I  wish  to  state  that,  through  the 
blessing  of  our  Lord,  our  great  cause  has  at  present  been 
carried  to  such  a  point  that  by  dint  of  great  energy  we 
may  expect  to  bring  it  to  a  successful  issue  on  our  behalf. 
In  order  that  such  end  may  be  attained,  it  is,  however, 
strictly  necessary  that  all  energy  be  used,  that  all  burgh- 
ers able  to  dp  active  service  go  forward  to  the  battle- 


448  SURRENDER  OF  BLOEMFONTEIN. 

field,  and  those  who  are  on  furlough  claim  no  undue 
extension  thereof,  but  return  as  soon  as  possible,  every- 
one to  the  place  where  his  war  officers  may  be  stationed. 
Brothers,  I  pray  you  to  act  herein  with  all  possible 
promptitude  and  zeal,  and  to  keep  your  eyes  fixed  on 
that  Providence  Who  has  miraculously  led  our  people 
through  the  whole  of  South  Africa.  Read  Psalm  xxxiii., 
from  verse  7  to  the  end.  The  enemy  have  fixed  their  faith 
in  Psalm  Ixxxiii.,  where  it  is  said  that  this  people  shall 
not  exist,  and  its  name  shall  be  annihilated;  but  the  Lord 
says  'it  shall  exist.'  Read  also  Psalm  Ixxxix. ,  the  13th 
and  14th  verses,  where  the  Lord  sayeth  that  the  children 
of  Christ,  if  they  depart  from  His  word,  shall  be  chastised 
with  bitter  reverses,  but  His  favor  and  goodness  shall 
have  no  end  and  never  fail.  What  He  has  said  remains 
strong  and  firm.  For,  see,  the  Lord  purifieth  His 
children  even  unto  gold  proven  by  fire.  But  do  not 
forget  that  the  enemy  create  devastation  where  they 
come  on  the  farms.  In  the  Colony  they  carry  away  all 
the  goods  of  the  Afrikander  people,  and  sell  and  destroy 
these,  according  to  reports.  Even  in  the  O.  F.  S.  they 
lay  waste  the  farms.  I  need  not  draw  your  attention  to 
all  the  destructiveness  of  the  enemy's  works,  for  you  know 
it,  and  I  again  point  to  the  attack  of  the  devil  on  Christ 
and  His  Church.  This  has  been  the  attack  from  the 
beginning.  God  will  not  countenance  the  destruction  of 
His  Church.  You  know  that  our  cause  is  a  just  one,  and 
there  cannot  be  any  doubt,  for  it  is  with  the  contents  of 
just  this  Psalm  that  they  commenced  with  us  in  their 
wickedness,  and  I  am  still  searching  the  entire  Bible  and 
find  no  other  way  which  can  be  followed  by  us.  We 
must  continue  to  fight  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  Please 
notify  all  the  officers  of  war,  and  the  entire  public  of  your 


SURRENDER   OF  BLOEMFONTEIN,  449 

district,  of  the  contents  of  this  telegram,  and  imbue  them 
with  a  full  earnestness  of  the  cause." 

Just  previous  to  this  an  interview  with  President 
Kruger  was  published  in  a  New  York  paper  in  which 
he  outlined  the  only  terms  on  which*  he  could  accept 
peace — absolute  independence.     He  said: 

' '  Having  been  forced  into  war,  the  Boers  will  con- 
quer or  die.  I  do  not  expect  aid  from  other  nations,  but 
I  am  glad  of  sympathy  and  friendship.  The  Transvaal 
is  willing  to  make  peace  at  any  time,  but  it  wants  no 
more  conventions;  only  absolute  independence  is  pos- 
sible. We  do  not  want  more  territory,  and  we  are  con- 
tent to  live  peaceably.  The  Transvaal  will  stipulate  in 
the  terms  of  peace  that  the  Natal  and  Cape  Colony  Dutch 
fighting  with  the  Boers  shall  be  regarded  as  belligerents, 
and  shall  suffer  no  loss  of  property.  On  learning  that 
some  of  these  were  on  trial  at  Capetown  on  a  charge  of 
treason,  the  Transvaal  government  cabled  to  Lord  Salis- 
bury stating  that  if  they  were  not  treated  as  prisoners  of 
war  we  should  make  reprisals  on  the  British  prisoners 
here.  Lord  Salisbury  replied  that  if  we  injured  a  single 
British  prisoner  he  would  hold  me  personally  responsible. 
I  suppose  he  meant  that  the  British  would  hang  me. 
Such  threats  are  contemptible,-  and  will  not  prevent  me 
from  performing  my  duty.  The  Transvaal  replied  to-day 
that  it  despised  his  threats.  The  story  of  a  conspiracy  of 
the  South  African  Dutch  is  untrue.  The  Orange  Free 
State  was  bound  by  treaty  to  aid  us.  The  Boers  are  in 
God's  hands,  and  He  will  not  let  us  perish.  Our  total 
fighting  strength  is  only  40,000,  but  with  God's  aid  we  can 
prevail.  It  is  liberty  or  death.  I  have  protected  British 
property  in  the  Transvaal,  and  shall  continue  to  do  so. 
We  feel  that  America  should  be  with  us  in  this  struggle. " 


CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

DEATH  OF  JOUBERT. 

Commander-in-Chief  of   the  Transvaal  Army  Dies  at  Pretoria  of  Stomach 

Trouble — Colonel  Broadwood's  Command  Ambushed  and 

Captured  by   General  Dfe  Wet 


^IHE  BOERS  were  destined  to  sustain  even  a  greater 
loss  than  their  capital  of  Bloemfontein.  On 
March  27,  General  P.  J.  Joubert,  the  command- 
er-in-chief of  the  Transvaal  army,  died  at 
Pretoria  of  stomach  trouble.  A  history  of  his  career  is 
given  in  a  preceding  chapter.  Many  tributes  were  paid 
to  his  valor  as  a  soldier  and  his  worth  as  a  man,  Lord 
Roberts  being  one  of  the  number  to  give  him  high  praise. 
The  following  message  was  sent  to  President  Kruger 
by  Lord  Roberts,  dated  Bloemfontein,  March  30:  I  have 
just  received  the  news  of  General  Joubert 's  death.  I  desire 
at  once  to  offer  my  sincere  condolence  with  your  honor 
and  the  burghers  of  the  South  African  Republic  on  this 
sad  event.  I .  would  ask  you  to  convey  to  the  general's 
family  the  expression  of  my  respectful  sympathy  in  their 
bereavement,  and  to  assure  them  also  from  me  that  all 
ranks  of  Her  Majesty's  forces  now  serving  in  South  Africa 
deeply  regret  the  sudden  and  untimely  end  of  so  distin- 
guished a  chief,  who  devoted  his  life  to  the  service  of  his 
country,  and  whose  personal  gallantry  was  only  surpassed 
by  his  humane  conduct  and  chivalrous  feelings  in  circum- 
stances. 

General  Joubert  was  succeeded  by  Louis  Botha,  the 

450 


li  i\^ia 


DEATH  OF  JOUBERT.  453 

general  in  command  of  the  forces  opposing  General 
Buller.  Botha  was  a  farmer  from  that  district  of  the 
Transvaal  lately  known  as  the  New  Republic.  He  is  of 
an  old  Natal  family  of  the  name  of  Botha,  who  many 
years  ago  moved  into  the  Free  State.  When  the  filibus- 
tering expedition  was  formed  to  seize  the  north  of  Zulu- 
land,  Botha  secured  a  farm  in  the  new  territory,  and,  in 
spite  of  the  British  proclamation,  he  and  others  retained 
the  farms,  which  form  the  best  part  of  the  country.  His 
place  was  about  thirty-five  miles  northeast  of  Vryheid,  on 
the  heights  near  the  Pongola  River,  the  boundary  line 
between  the  Transvaal  and  Swaziland.  Mr.  Botha's 
homestead  would  compare  favorably  with  a  first-class 
English  farm,  the  house  surrounded  by  large  avenues  of 
trees  of  the  general's  own  planting,  the  buildings  subr 
stantial  and  modern.  On  entering  the  hous^  one  could 
easily  fancy  oneself  in  a  superior  middle-class  English 
home.  The  style  of  the  furnishing,  the  plentiful  supply 
of  books,  the  latest  home  papers,  a  first-class  piano  and 
organ,  and  a  well-stocked  greenhouse  and  fernery  were 
all  in  keeping.  Mrs.  Botha,  a  dignified  and  charming 
hostess,  graced  the  establishment.  She  was  the  daugh- 
ter of  an  Irish  gentleman  named  Emmet,  believed  to  be 
a  direct  descendant  of  the  Irish  patriot  of  that  name.  Mr. 
Botha's  age  was  probably  about  forty-five  at  the  time  he 
succeeded  General  Joubert.  He  was  a  tall,  stout  man, 
and  fairly  well  educated  for  a  Dutch  farmer.  He  had 
never  had  the  command  of  an  army  before. 

Doubtless  General  Botha  has  assistance  from  conti- 
nental experts  and  others  in  the  handling  of  his  big  guns 
and  in  the  management  of  his  entrenchments,  but  the 
brunt  of  the  whole  business  must  fall  on  the  Boers. 
Though  ordinary  farmers,  these  men  seem  in  a  manner 

26 


454  DEA  TH  OF  JOUBERT. 

born  for  war,  and  they  know  as  well  as  any  people  in  the 
world  the  possibilities  of  a  position  and  a  properly-handled 
rifle,  and  the  value  of  mobility.  The  Boer  can  tell  what 
is  on  the  side  of  the  hill  he  is  looking  at.  And  can  also 
give  a  good  idea  of  the  nature  of  the  country  on 
the  other  side.  Their  eyesight  is  marvelous,  especially 
for  long  distances.  They  seldom  spoil  it  through  reading 
by  lamps  or  candle-light.  They  usually  go  to  bed  soon 
and  get  up  with  the  fowls.  This  early  rising,  however,  is 
not  for  the  purpose  of  laborious  toil.  All  the  hard  work 
on  the  farm  is  done  by  the  Kaffirs,  the  Boer  contenting 
himself  by  taking  just  enough  exercise  when  at  home  to 
keep  him  in  health.  He  thinks  nothing,  however,  of  a 
fifty  mile  journey  in  a  day  with  one  pair  of  horses,  and 
When  needful  both  he  and  his  horses  can  live  on  very 
spare  diet.  The  Boers  are  big,  hard,  raw-boned  men, 
and  care  little  for  cold  or  heat.  I  have  seen  them 
after  a  day's  trek  in  a  cold  pouring  rain  lie  down  under 
their  wagon,  and,  though  drenched  to  the  skin,  sleep 
with  as  little  discomfort  as  an  ordinary  man  in  a  good 
dry  bed. 

An  evidence  of  Boer  strategy  and  valor  was  given  on 
March  31,  when  the  forces  under  General  De  Wet  am- 
bushed and  captured  a  British  convoy  and  two  batteries 
of  horse  artillery  twenty-two  miles  from  Bloemfontein. 
The  guns  and  wagons  belonged  to  Colonel  Broadwood's 
column,  which  was  falling  back  from  Thaba  Nchu  to 
Bloemfontein  Waterworks  before  superior  numbers  of  the 
enemy.  Being  outmanoetivered  and  heavily  attacked 
Colonel  Broadwood  decided  to  send  the  batteries  and  his 
baggage  towards  the  base.  The  convoy  was  in  front  and 
was  driven  unsuspectingly  into  the  trap  prepared  by  the 
Boers,  who  had  concealed  themselves  in  a  deep  nullah, 


DEATH  OF  JOUBERT.  455 

and  pounced  upon  the  convoy  when  it  was  fairly  in  the 
drift.  At  this  critical  juncture  British  pluck  was  not  found 
to  fail,  and  the  Boers  themselves  could  not  help  admir- 
ing the  gallant  stand  made  by  their  enemies.  Q  battery 
was  under  cross-fire  for  some  hours,  the  officers  serving 
the  guns  as  their  men  fell,  and  eventually  but  two  of  these 
guns  were  saved.  Yery  different  was  the  fate  of  U  bat- 
tery, which  was  surrounded  and  captured,  with  five  guns, 
without  a  shot  being  fired,  only  Major  Taylor  and  Ser- 
geant-Major  Martin  escaping.  Nothing  daunted.  Colonel 
Broadwood  managed  to  fight  his  way  across  the  Modder 
River,  where  he  was  soon  reinforced  by  the  Ninth 
division,  and  later  by  French's  cavalry.  The  Colonel 
placed  his  casualties  at  about  350,  including  200  miss- 
ing. 

The  details  were  as  follows:  At  daybreak  the  Boers 
opened  a  musketry  fire  as  the  camp  up-saddled.  The 
convoy  pushed  out  towards  Bloemfontein,  followed  by  U 
and  Q  batteries  horse  artillery.  The  road  leads  over  a 
drift,  where  converging  nullahs  and  a  railway  embankment 
under  construction  formed  a  cul  de  sac.  This  the  enemy 
occupied.  As  the  wagons  dropped  into  the  dip  the  Boers 
diverted  them  without  giving  the  alarm  to  the  rear  of  the 
column.  Following  the  convoy  U  battery  was  captured 
at  point  blank  range.  Major  Taylor,  however,  managed 
to  slip  away  and  warn  Q  battery  and  Roberts'  horse,  the 
escort.  The  latter  received  the  order,  ' '  Files  about 
gallop."  The  enemy  then  opened  a  murderous  fire  at  200 
yards  range,  stampeding  the  mules  of  U  battery,  the 
drivers  of  which  had  dismounted  by  order  of  the  Boers. 
Q  battery  retired  300  yards  and  gallantly  attempted  to 
save  the  situation.  Eventually,  ten  men  and  one  officer 
were  left  fighting,  the  battery.     Seeing  that  it  was  useless 


4S6  DEATH  OF  JOUBERT. 

to  stay  the  officer  extricated  five  guns  with  a  pair  of  horses 
to  each.  The  cav'alry  broke  through  the  cordon  to  the 
south.  It  was  simply  slaughter.  The  Kaffir  drivers  of 
the  convoy  ran  away,  leaving  their  teams.  It  was  impos- 
sible for  the  British  to  hit  the  hidden  enemy.  The 
gunners  fought  bravely,  trying  to  save  their  guns;  but 
were  greatly  hampered  by  the  Kaffirs,  who  ran  hither  and 
thither  looking  for  cover  from  the  fearful  fire  that  poured 
in  from  all  side?.  Meanwhile  the  Boers  were  hotly 
pressing  Broadwood,  whose  mounted  troops  were  com- 
pletely surrounded.  The  British  showed  magnificent 
bravery.  The  officers  were  quite  cool,  and  composedly 
directed  the  operations.  One  of  the  batteries  shelled  the 
Boers,  who  repeatedly  sought  to  overwhelm  them,  and 
made  desperate  attacks  on  their  front.  Broadwood  was 
unable  to  give  any  assistance  to  the  convoy,  and  some  of 
the  wagons  were  cut  off.  The  reinforcements  sent  up 
from  Bloemfontein  rescued  Broadwood's  party,  and  then 
attacked  the  enemy,  with  a  view  to  recovering  the  guns. 
Two  of  them  were  retaken,  and  the  whole  force  retired  on 
Bloemfontein.  A  hundred  wagons  were  lost  through  the 
cowardice  of  the  Kaffir  drivers.  The  water  supply  was 
cut,  and  the  pumping  gear  destroyed,  as  well  as  the  field 
telegraph. 

The  action  of  Commandant  Olivier  in  striking  back 
east  and  occupying  Ladybrand  and  then  summoning 
reinforcements  and  retaking  Thaba  Nchu  was  a  brilliant 
piece  of  strategy,  advantage  being  taken  of  the  only  vul- 
nerable point  in  Lord  Roberts'  position. 

The  following  is  part  of  a  telegram  from  the  Boer 
camp  at  Brandfort,  describing  the  capture  of  the  convoy. 
With  the  British  was  an  immense  convoy"  of  wagons  and 
carts.     When  the  alarm  was  given  these. were  inspanned, 


DEATH  OF  JOUBERT.  457 

and  sent  to  a  lower  drift  on  the  river.  On  the  first  cart 
were  officers  and  civilians  from  Thaba  Nchu.  When  the 
first  cart  entered  the  drift  the  Boers  forming  the  ambus- 
cade shouted  "Hands  up!"  They  then  removed  the 
officers  and  let  the  cart  go  through.  Tlys  process  was 
repeated  with  the  second  cart,  and  so  on  until  a  consider- 
able number  of  carts  had  come  down.  When  the  ruse 
was  discovered  a  panic  and  great  disorder  ensued,  and  the 
convoy  took  a  new  direction.  There  was  one  cart  con- 
taining two  officers  to  whom  Commandant  De  Wet 
shouted  "Hands  up!"  One  of  the  officers  held  up  his 
hands,  whereon  the  other  shot  him  dead.  The  second, 
refusing  to  surrender,  was  shot  immediately.  The 
burghers,  who  were  short  of  foodstuffs,  now  have  an 
abundant  supply  of  everything  from  the  captured 
convoy,  which  has  not  encumbered  their  mobility.  Com- 
mandant De  Wet  sent  the  British  cannons  and  prisoners 
to  Winburg.  The  Boer  loss  was  three  killed  and  ten 
wounded,  including  one  of  their  bravest  field  cornets. 
Among  the  wounded  is  a  Dutch  military  attache  named 
Nix,  who  received  a  bullet  in  the  chest.  Late  in  the 
evening  General  Villiers  came  up  with  a  Cape  force  from 
Thaba  Nchu,  and  captured  sixteen  British  soldiers.  The 
total  number  of  prisoners  captured  during  the  day  was 
389.  The  significance  of  the  battle  must  not  be  under- 
rated. The  success  was  gained  by  a  commando  of  Free 
Staters  who  fought  on  the  flat  veldt  without  shelter.  The 
Free  Staters  are  inspired  by  their  desire  to  return  to  Bloem- 
fontein  and  the  Transvaalers  by  their  desire  to  emulate 
the  success  of  the  Free  Staters  in  yesterday's  fight.  All 
the  commandos  to  the  south  have  now  effected  junction, 
and  together  make  up  a  large  force  of  veterans.  What 
is  perhaps  of   more  importance  than   the  victory  is  the 


458  DEATH   OF  JOUBERT, 

capture  of  all  the  British  secret  papers.  Among  then? 
are  carefully-framed  maps  and  tables  for  1897,  1898  and 
1899,  giving  elaborate  plans  for  the  invasion  of  the  Free 
State  and  the  Transvaal.  Those  which  will  prove  most 
valuable  in  the  game  of  check  and  counter-checks  are 
plans  for  working  to  Johannesburg  from  Mafeking  along 
Jameson's  route,  but  amended  so  as  to  avoid  his  mistakes. 
This  is  the  work  of  Major  Keade,  who  then  held  the 
rank  of  captain.  The  papers  also  include  Major  Wolley- 
Dod's  plan  for  a  march  from  Bloemfontein  to  Kroonstad, 
via  Brandford,  Vinburg,  and  Ventersburg.  The  Prieska 
and  Kenhardt  districts  of  Cape  Colony  are  full  of  rebel- 
lion. The  Kenhardt  rebels  are  marching  on  Calvinia  and 
others  towards  Fourteen  Streams.  The  above  dispatch 
has  been  delayed  owing  to  the  detours  made  to.  avoid 
British  scouts.  The  Boers,  on  their  way  to  Brandfort, 
captured  three  British  scouts.  A  dispatch  box  which  was 
found  on  the  battle-field  contained  papers  signed  by  Free 
State  burghers  who  had  taken  the  oath  and  surrendered. 
The  signatories  were  sent  for,  so  that  it  could  be  pointed 
out  to  them  by  the  general  that  these  oaths,  having  been 
taken  under  compulsion,  were  null  and  void. 

The   following    is    Lord    Roberts'  official    report    of 
Colonel  Broad  wood's  disaster: 

Bloemfontein,  April  i,  6:10  p.  m. — I  received  news 
late  yesterday  afternoon  from  Broadwood,  who  was  at 
Thaba  Nchu,  38  miles  east  of  this,  that  information  had 
reached  him  that  the  enemy  were  approaching  in  two 
forces  from  the  north  and  east.  He  stated  that  if  the 
report  proved  true  he  would  retire  to  the  Waterworks, 
seventeen  miles  nearer  Bloemfontein,  at  which  place 
we  had  a  detachment  of  two  companies  of  mounted 
infantry  for   the    protection   of   the  works.      Broadwood 


DEATH  OF  JOUBERT.  459 

was  told  in  reply  that  the  Ninth  division,  with  Mar- 
tyr's mounted  infantry,  would  march  at  daylight  to-day 
to  support  him,  and  that  if  he  considered  it  necessary 
he  should  retire  on  the  Waterworks.  He  moved  there 
during  the  night  and  bivouacked.  At  dawn  to-day  he 
was  shelled  by  the  enemy  and  attacked  on  three  sides. 
He  immediately  dispatched  his  two  horse  artillery  batteries 
and  his  baggage  towards  Bloemfontein,  covering  them 
with  his  cavalry.  Some  two  miles  from  the  Waterworks 
the  road  crosses  a  deep  nullah  or  spruit,  in  which  during 
the  night  a  force  of  Boers  had  concealed  themselves.  So 
well  were  they  hidden  that  our  leading  scouts  passed  over 
the  drift  without  discovering  them,  and  it  was  not  until 
the  wagons  and  guns  were  entering  the  drift  that  the 
Boers  showed  themselves  and  opened  fire.  Many  of 
the  drivers  and  artillery  horses  were  at  once  shot  down  at 
short  range  and  several  of  the  guns  were  captured.  The 
remainder  galloped  away,  covered  by  Roberts'  horse, 
which  suffered  heavily.  Meanwhile  Lieutenant  Chester- 
master,  of  Rimington's  scouts,  had  found  a  passage  across 
the  spruit  unoccupied  by  the  enemy,  by  which  the  remain- 
der of  Broadwood's  force  crossed  and  reformed  with  great 
steadiness,  notwithstanding  all  that  had  previously  oc- 
curred. Broadwood's  report,  which  has  just  reached  me, 
and  which  contains  no  details,  stated  that  he  lost  seven 
guns  and  all  his  baggage.  He  estimates  all  his  casualties 
at  about  350,  including  over  200  missing.  On  hearing 
this  morning  that  Broadwood  was  hard  pressed  I  imme- 
diately ordered  French,  with  the  two  remaining  cavalry 
brigades,  to  follow  in  support  of  the  Ninth  division.  The 
latter,  after  a  magnificent  march,  arrived  on  the  scene  of 
action  shortly  after  2  p.  m.  Broadwood's  force  consisted 
of  the  Household  cavalry,  Tenth  Hussars,  Q  and  U  bat- 


46o  DEATH  OF  JOUBERT. 

teries  royal  horse  artillery,  and  Pilcher's  battalion  of 
mounted  infantry.  The  strength  of  the  enemy  is  estimated 
at  from  8,000  to  10,000  men,  with  guns,  the  number  of 
which  not  yet  reported. 


APPENDIX-A. 


THE  SOUTH  AFRICAN  REPUBLIC. 

CONSTITUTION   AND  GOVERNMENT. 

The  South  African  Republic,  also  known  as  the  Transvaal,  was  originally 
formed  by  part  of  the  Boers,  who  left  the  Cape  Colony  in  1835  for  Natal,  but 

Quitted  that  colony  on  its  annexation  to  the  British  Crown.  In  1S52  the  in- 
ependence  of  the  Transvaal  was  recognized  by  the  British  Government,  and 
the  constitution  of  the  State  is  based  on  the  "Thirty ^hree  Articles,"  passed 
May  23,  1849,  and  the  "Grondwet,"  or  Fundamental  Law  of  February  13,  1858. 
On  April  12,  1877,  the  Transvaal  was  annexed  by  the  British  Government, 
against  which,  in  December,  18S0,  the  Boers  took  up  arms,  and  a  treaty  of 
peace  was  signed  March  21,  1881.  According  to  the  convention  ratified  by  the 
Volksraad,  October  26.  1881,  self-go\?ernment  was  restored  to  the  Transvaal  so 
far  as  regards  internal  affairs,  the  control  and  management  of  external  affairs 
being  reserved  to  Her  Majesty  as  suzerain.  A  British  resident  was  appointed, 
with  functions  analogous  to  those  of  a  Consul-General  and  Charge  d'  Affaires. 
Another  convention  with  the  Government  of  Great  Britain  was  signed  in  Lon- 
don February  27,  1884,  ratified  by  the  Volksraad,  August  8,  by  which  the  State 
was  to  be  known  as  the  South  African  Republic,  and  the  British  suzerainty 
restricted  to  control  of  foreign  relations.  Instead  of  a  resident  the  Britisn 
Government  was  represented  by  a  diplomatic  agent. 

The  constitution  has  been  frequently  amended  down  to  January,  1897.  The 
supreme  legislative  authority  is  vested  in  a  Parliament  of  two  chambers,  each 
of  twenty-seven  members,  chosen  by  the  districts.  Bills  passed  by  the  second 
chamber  do  not  become  law  until  accepted  by  the  first.  Members  of  both 
chambers  must  be  thirty  years  of  age,  possess  fixed  property,  and  never  have 
been  convicted  of  any  criminal  offense.  The  members  of  the  first  chamber 
are  elected  from  and  by  the  first-class  burghers,  those  of  the  second  chamber 
from  and  by  the  first  and  second  class  burghers  conjointly,  each  for  four 
years.  First-class  burghers  comprise  all  male  whites  resident  in  the  Republic 
before  May  29,  1876,  or  who  took  an  active  part  in  the  war  of  independence  in 
1 88 1,  the  Malaboch  war  in  1894,  the  Jameson  Raid  in  1895-96,  the  expedition  to 
Swaziland  in  1894,  and  all  the  other  tribal  wars  of  the  Republic,  and  the  chil- 
dren of  such  persons  from  the  age  of  sixteen.  Second-class  burghers  comprise 
the  naturalized  male  alien  population  and  their  children  from  the  age  of  six- 
teen. Naturalization  may  be  obtained  after  two  years'  residence,  and  registra- 
tion on  the  books  of  the  Fieldcornet,  oath  of  allegiance,  and  payment  of  $ia 
The  Executive  Council  has  also  the  right,  in  special  instances,  to  invite 
persons  to  become  naturalized  on  payment  of  $10.  Naturalized  burghers  may, 
by  special  resolution  of  the  first  Chamber,  become  first-class  burghers  twelve 
years  after  naturalization.  Sons  of  aliens,  though  bom  in  the  Republic,  have 
no  political  rights,  but,  by  registration  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  may  at  the  age  of 
eighteen  become  naturalized  burghers,  and  may,  by  special  resolution  of  the 


11  APPENDIX. 

first  Chamber,  be  made  first-class  burghers  ten  years  after  they  are  eligible  for 
the  second  Chamber,  or  at  the  age  of  forty.  The  President  and  Commandant- 
General  are  elected  by  the  first-class  burghers  only ;  District-Commandants  and 
the  Fieldcornets  by  the  two  classes  of  burghers  conjointly.  The  Executive  is 
vested  in  a  President,  elected  for  five  years,  assisted  by  a  council  consisting  of 
four  official  members  (the  State  Secretary,  the  Commandant-General,  Super- 
intendent of  Natives,  and  the  Minute-keeper),  two  non-official  members,  all  of 
which  are  elected  by  the  first  Volksraad. 

AREA  AND   POPULATION. 

The  area  of  the  Republic  is  119,139  square  miles,  divided  into  twenty  dis- 
tricts, and  its  population,  according  to  the  State  Almanack  for  1898,  which  gives 
the  details,  is  as  follows:  Whites,  245,397  (137,947  males  and  107,450  females); 
natives,  748,759  (148,155  men,  183,280  women,  and  417,324  children);  total 
population,  994,156.  The  boundaries  of  the  State  are  defined  in  the  Con- 
vention of  February  27,  1884 — since  altered  by  a  supplementary  convention,  by 
which  the  former  New  Republic  (Zululand)  was  annexed  to  the  South  African 
Republic  as  a  new  district,  named  Vrijheid,  and  by  the  terms  of  the  Conven- 
tion regarding  Swaziland,  ratified  by  the  Volksraad  August  20,  1890,  by  which 
Swaziland  comes  under  the  administration  of  the  Transvaal.  The  seat  of 
government  is  Pretoria,  with  a  white  population  of  10,000.  The  largest  town 
IS  Johannesburg,  the  mining  center  of  the  Witwatersrand  gold  fields,  with  a 
population  withm  a  radius  of  three  miles,  according  to  census  of  July  15,  1896, 
of  102,078  (79,315  males  and  22,763  females).  The  population  consisted  of 
50,907  whites,  952  Malays,  4,807  coolies  and  Chinese,  42,533  Kaffirs,  and  2,879 
of  mixed  race.  One-third  of  the  population  of  the  Republic  are  engaged  in 
agriculture. 

RELIGION. 

As  no  census  has  been  taken,  the  following  figures  must  be  considered 
approximate : 

The  United  Dutch  Reform  Church  is  the  State  church,  claiming  30,000 
(1895)  of  the  population ;  other  Dutch  churches,  32,760 ;  English  Church,  30,000 ; 
Wesleyans,  10,000;  Catholic,  5,000;  Presbyterians,  8,000;  other  Christian 
churches,  5,000;  Jews,  10,000. 

INSTRUCTION. 

According  to  the  report  of  the  Superintendent  of  Education  for  the  year 
1897,  the  sum  of  $701,430  was  spent  for  the  education  of  11,552  pupils.  In  1896 
there  were  34  village  schools  and  395  ward  schools,  besides  a  model  school  with 
284,  a  gymnasium  with  61,  and  a  girls'  school  with  210  pupils  at  Pretoria. 
There  are  many  schools  in  Johannesburg,  Pretoria,  and  other-  places  belong- 
ing to  the  English  and  other  denominations  not  subsidized  by  the  Government. 

FINANCE. 

The  following  shows  the  ordinary  revenue  and  expenditure  for  the  years 
1893,  1895  and  1897,  exclusive  of  advances  made  and  refunded,  and  deposits 
made  and  withdrawn: 


Revenue,  1893   .     . 

.     .    $  8,513,420 

Expenditure,  1893 

.     $  6,510,270 

1895   .     . 

.    .       17.699,775 

1895      . 

13-395.475 

1897    .     . 

.     .      22,401,090 

1897      . 

21,970,330 

APPENDIX.  Ill 

In  1897  the  chief  sources  of  revenue  were:  Import  duties,  $6,361,595; 
Netherlands  railway,  $3,686,830;  prospecting  licenses,  $2,136,150;  explosives, 
$1,500,000;  stamps,  $1,291,980;  posts  and  telegraphs,  $1,076,600.  The  chief 
branches  of  expenditure  were:  Public  works,  $5,064,330;  salaries,  $4,984,800; 
war  department,  $1,981,920;  purchase  of  explosives,  $1,357,175.  Of  the  Min- 
ing Commissions  department,  Johannesburg,  the  receipts  in  1897  amounted  to 
$4,480,220,  and  expenditure  to  $506,845;  credit  balance,  $3,973,375. 

The  public  debt  on  September  9,  1897,  was  $13,368,450,  including  direct 
liabilities  to  the  British  Crown,  $833,450,  and  Rothschild  loan,  $12,500,000. 
The  State  lands  were  valued  in  1884  at  $2,000,000,  but  may  now  be  valued  at 
over  ten  millions,  as  the  gold  fields  at  Barberton  are  on  Government  lands. 

DEFENSE. 

The  Republic  has  no  standing  army,  with  the  exception  of  a  small  force  of 
horse  artillery  of  32  officers,  79  non-commissioned  officers,  and  289  men,  all  able- 
bodied  citizens  being  called  out  in  case  of  war.  There  are  3  foot  and  6  mounted 
volunteer  corps,  numbering  about  2,000  men,  subsidized  by  Government.  The 
number  of  men  liable  to  service  in  1899  was  about  45,000. 

PRODUCTION   AND  INDUSTRY. 

The  South  African  Republic  is  specially  favorable  for  agriculture  as  well  as 
stock  rearing,  though  its  capacities  in  this  respect  are  not  yet  developed.  It  is 
estimated  that  50,000  acres  are  under  cultivation.  The  agricultural  produce, 
however,  is  not  sufficient  for  the  wants  of  the  population.  There  are  about 
12,245  farms,  of  which  3,636  belong  to  Government,  1,612  lo  outside  owners 
and  companies,  and  the  rest  to  resident  owners  and  companies. 

Gold  mining  is  carried  on  to  a  great  extent  in  the  various  gold  fields,  prin- 
cipally Barberton  and  Witwatersrand. 

The  total  value  of  gold  production  from  the  year  1884  has  been: 

1884 $       50,480  189* $22,705,355 

1886 •  .     .  173,550  1894 38,335.760 

1888 4,837,080  1897 57.381,300 

1890 9,348,225 

The  total  to  1897  has  been  $269,052,540. 

Of  the  gold  output  in  1897.  3,034,678  ounces  were  from  Witwatersrand; 
113,972  ounces  from  De  Kaap;  50,942  ounces  from  Lydenburg;  84,781  ounces 
from  Klerksdorp;  223  ounces  from  Zoutpansberg ;  and  5,120  ounces  from 
Swaziland. 

In  1897,  according  to  returns  furnished  by  72  companies,  the  number  of 
whites  employed  at  the  mines  was  8,060,  the  amount  paid  to  them  in  wages 
being  $12,608,015 ;  the  number  of  natives  employed,  according  to  these  retimis, 
was  50,791,  but  the  total  number  employed  was  estimated  at  about  70,000. 
Working  for  silver,  lead,  and  copper  has  been  suspended  since  1894;  tin  is 
found  in  Swaziland.  Coal  of  fair  quality  is  found  near  Witwatersrand  and 
other  gold  fields ;  the  total  output  in  three  years  has  been:  1895,  1,133,466  tons; 
1896,  1,437,297  tons;  1897,  1,600,212  tons  (value,  $3,063,340). 

COMMERCE  AND   C0MMUN1[CATI0N. 

The  principal  exports  are  gold,  wool,  cattle,  hides,  grain,  ostrich  feathers, 
ivorj-,  and  mmerals.  The  value  of  imports  on  which  dues  were  charged 
amounted  in  1894  to  $32,201,075;  in  1 895, to  $49,081, 520;  in  1896,  to  $70,440,650; 
in  1897,  $67,819,155.     The  total  imports  in  1897  have  been  estimated  at  $112,- 


IV  APPENDIX. 

575,000.  In  the  official  returns  for  1897  the  largest  imports  were:  Clothing, 
$6,270,290;  machinery,  $9,380,955;  railway  material,  $4,347,215;  iron  wire, 
plates,  etc.,  $4,320,630. 

The  various  railway  lines  connect  the  Republic  with  the  Orange  Free  State, 
Cape  Colony,  Natal,  and  Portuguese  East  Africa.  The  total  mileage  open  in 
September,  1898,  was  774;  under  construction,  270;  and  projected,  252. 

The  Republic  is  in  telegraphic  communication  with  the  surrounding  states 
and  colonies  as  far  north  as  Blantyre,  near  Lake  Nyassa.  The  lines  within  the 
State  extend  over  2,000  miles. 

Weights  and  measures  are  the  same  as  in  Cape  Colony,  the  currency  is  Eng- 
lish money,  the  Government  gold,  silver,  and  bronze  coin  issued  from  a  mint 
established  in  Pretoria.  From  1S92  to  June  30,  1S97,  the  nominal  value  of  the 
coin  issued  from  the  mint  was:  Gold,  $6,712,075 ;  silver,  $1,443,260;  bronze, 
$1,945;  total,  $8,157,280. 


APPENDIX-B. 

THE  ORANGE  FREE  STATE. 

CONSTITUTION   AND   GOVERNMENT. 

The  Republic  known  as  the  Orange  Free  State,  founded  originally  by  the 
Boers,  who  quitted  Cape  Colony  in  1836  and  following  years,  is  separated  from 
the  Cape  Colony  by  the  Orange  River,  has  British  Basutoland  and  Natal  on 
the  east,  the  Transvaal  on  the  north,  and  Transvaal  and  Griqualand  West  on 
the  west  Its  independence  was  declared  on  February  23,  1854,  and  a  consti- 
tution was  proclaimed  April  10,  1854,  ^iid  revised  February  9,  1866,  May  8, 
1879,  and  May  11,  1898.  The  legislative  authority  is  vested  in  a  popular 
assembly,  the  Volksraad,  of  sixty  members,  elected  by  suffrage  of  the  burghers 
(adult  white  males)  for  four  years  from  ever>'  district-town,  and  ward,  or  field- 
cornetcy.  Every  two  years  one-half  of  the  members  vacate  their  seats  and  an 
election  takes  place.  The  members  of  the  Volksraad  receive  pay  at  the  rate 
of  $10  per  day.  Eligible  are  burghers  twenty-five  years  of  age,  owners  of  real 
property  to  the  value  of  $2,500.  Voters  must  be  white  burghers  by  birth  or 
naturalization,  be  owners  of  real  property  of  not  less  than  $750,  or  lessees  of 
real  property  of  an  annual  rental  of  $180.  or  have  a  yearly  income  of  not  less 
than  $1,000,  or  be  owners  of  personal  property  to  the  value  of  $1,500,  and  have 
been  in  the  State  for  not  less  than  five  years.  The  executive  is  vested  in  a 
President  chosen  for  five  years  by  the  registered  voters,  who  is  assisted  by  an 
Executive  Council.  The  Executive  Council  consists  of  the  Government  Secre- 
tary, the  Landdrost  of  the  capital,  and  three  unofficial  members  appointed  by 
the  Volksraad,  one  every  year  for  three  years. 

There  is  a  Landdrost  or  Magistrate  appointed  to  each  of  the  districts  (eight- 
een) of  the  RepubUc  by  the  President,  the  appointment  requiring  the  confirma- 
tion of  the  Volksraad.  At  some  of  the  smaller  towns  Assistant  Landdrosts,  or 
Resident  Justices  of  the  Peace,  are  stationed.  In  every  ward  there  are 
commissioners  for  various  purposes,  the  members  of  which  are  elected  by  the 
burghers. 

AREA  AND   POPULATION. 

The  area  of  the  Free  State  is  estimated  at  48,326  square  miles;  it  is  divided 
into  eighteen  districts.  At  a  census  taken  in  1890  the  white  population  was 
found  to  be  77,716  (40,571  males  and  37,145  females).  Of  the  population  51,910 
were  born  in  the  Free  State  and  21,116  in  the  Cape  Colony.     There  were 


APPENDIX.  *  V 

besides  129,787  natives  in  the  State  (67,791  males  and  61,996  females) — making 
a  total  population  of  207,503.  The  capital,  Bloemfontein,  had  2,077  white 
inhabitants  in  1890  and  1,302  natives.  Of  the  white  population  10,761  were 
returned  in  1890  as  directly  engaged  in  agriculture,  while  there  were  41,817 
"colored  sen^ants." 

Immigration  is  on  the  increase,  mainly  from  Germany  and  England. 

RELIGION. 

The  Government  contributes  $50,250  for  religious  purposes.  The  State  is 
divided  into  36  parochial  districts  for  ecclesiastical  purposes.  There  are  about 
80  churches.  The  principal  body,  according  to  the  last  census  (1890),  is  the 
Dutch  Reformed  Church,  with  68,940  adherents;  of  Wesleyans  there  are  753; 
English  Episcopalians,  1,353;  Lutherans,  312;  Roman  Catholics,  466;  Jews, 
113- 

INSTRUCTION. 

The  system  of  education  is  national.  Small  grants  are  also  made  to  the 
Episcopal  and  Roman  Catholic  churches.  The  Government  schools  are  man- 
aged by  local  boards,  partly  elected  and  partly  appointed  by  Government, 
which  choose  the  teachers,  who  are  appointed  by  the  President,  if  he  is  satis- 
fied with  their  qualifications.  Education  is  compulsory  to  some  extent,  and 
free  for  poor»children. 

At  the  census  of  1890,  45,015  of  the  white  population  could  read  and  write; 
2,721  only  read,  23,722  (of  whom  19,508  were  under  seven  years  of  age)  could 
neither  read  nor  write,  while  6,258  were  not  specified. 

JUSTICE   AND   CRIME. 

The  Roman  Dutch  law  prevails.  The  superior  courts  of  the  country  are 
High  Courts  of  Justice,  with  three  judges,  and  the  circuit  courts.  The  inferior 
courts  are  the  court  of  the  Landdi-ost  and  the  court  of  Landdrost  and  Heem- 
raden.  The  circuit  courts,  at  which  the  judges  of  the  High  Court  preside  in 
turn,  are  held  four  times  a  year  at  Bloemfontein,  and  twice  a  year  in  the  chief 
town  of  every  district.  In  these  courts  criminal  cases  are  tried  befoj^a  jury. 
The  court  of  Landdrost  and  Heemraden  consists  of  the  Landdrost  (a  stipen- 
diary magistrate)  and  two  assessors.  The  Landdrost's  court  thus  has  both 
civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction.  There  are  also  justices  of  the  peace  who  try 
minor  offenses  and  settle  minor  disputes. 

There  are  no  statistics  of  crime.  There  are  police  constables  in  every  town, 
and  mounted  police  patrol  the  country. 

FINANCE. 

The  following  is  a  statement  of  revenue  and  expenditure  for  the  calendar 
years  1896  and  1897: 

Revenue,  1896 $1,873,770      Expenditure,  i8g6  .     .     .     $1,909,305 

"         1897 2,011,150  "  1897  .     .     .       1,909,945 

Among  the  items  of  revenue  (1897)  are:  Quit  rents,  $74,500;  transfer  dues, 
$168,750;  posts  and  telegraphs,  $177,000;  import  dues,  $814,650;  stamps, 
$269,875;  native  poll-tax,  $87,100;  and  of  expenditure,  salaries,  $266,170; 
police,  $65,780;  education,  $248,335;  posts  and  telegraphs,  $148,300;  public 
works,  $136,825;  artillery,  $52,715. 

The  Republic  has  a  debt  of  $200,000  (1897),  but  possesses  considerable  pub- 
lic property  in  land,  buildings,  bridges,  telegraphs,  etc.  (valued  at  $2,150,000), 
and  in  its  share  in  the  National  Bank,  amounting  to  $350,000.  Bloemfontein 
has  a  municipal  debt  of  $35,000. 


VI  APPENDIX. 

DEFENSE. 

The  frontier  measures  about  900  miles ;  of  this  400  miles  are  on  the  Cape  - 
Colony  border ;  200,  Basutoland ;  100,  Natal,  and  200  miles  on  the  frontier  of 
the  Transvaal. 

There  are  no  fortifications  on  the  frontier. 

Every  able-bodied  man  in  the  State  above  sixteen  and  under  sixty  years  of 
age  is  compelled  to  take  arms  when  called  by  his  Fieldcornet  (equal  to  the  rank 
of  captain)  when  necessity  demands  it  The  number  of  burghers  available  is 
17,381  (eighteen  to  sixty  years).  Four  batteries  of  artillery  are  stationed  at 
the  capital,  Bloemfontein ;  150  officers  and  men,  with  550  passed  artillerists,  as 
a  reserve.     A  fort  was  built  on  a  hill  at  the  north  end  of  the  town. 

PRODUCTION  AND  INDUSTRY. 

The  State  consists  of  undulating  plains,  affording  excellent  gfrazing.  A 
comparatively  small  portion  of  the  country  is  suited  for  agriculture,  but  a  con- 
siderable quantity  of  g^ain  is  produced.  The  number  of  farms  is  10,499,  with 
a  total  of  29,918,500  acres,  of  which,  in  1890,  250,600  were  cultivated.  There 
were  in  the  same  year  248,878  horses,  276,073  oxen,  619,026  other  cattle 
(burden),  6,619,992  sheep,  858,155  goats,  and  1,461  ostriches. 

The  diamond  production  in  1890  was  99,255  carats,  valued  at  $1,119,800;  in 
1891,  108,311  carats,  valued  at  $1,012755;  in  1893,  209,653  carats,  valued  at 
$2,070,895;  in  1894,  282,598  carats,  valued  at  $2,140,198.  In  1896  the  diamond 
exports  were  valued  at  $2,312,545,  and  in  1897,  $2,204,820.  Garnets  and  other 
precious  stones  are  found,  and  there  are  rich  coal  mines ;  gold  has  also  been 
found. 

COMMERCE. 

The  imports,  beside  general  merchandise,  from  Cape  Colony  and  Natal 
comprise  cereals,  wool,  cattle,  and  horses  from  Basutoland.  The  exports  to 
the  Cape,  Natal,  and  South  African  Republic  are  chiefly  agricultural  produce 
and  diamonds,  while  other  merchandise  goes  to  Basutoland.  The  trade  is 
estimated  as  follows  for  two  years; 
• 

Imports,  1896 $5>932,285      Exports,  1896      ....    $8,722,420 

*'       1897 6,158,495  "         1897      ....      8,971,210 

COMMUNICATIONS. 

A  railway  constructed  by  the  Cape  Colonial  Government  connects  the 
Orange  River  (at  Norval's  Pont)  with  Bloemfontein,  and  Bloemfontein  with 
the  Transvaal  (at  Viljoens  drift  on  the  Vaal  River).  On  January  i,  1898,  the 
State  took  over  the  railways.  The  gross  profits  for  the  year  1897  were  $2,523,- 
495;  payments  for  new  lines,  additional  works,  stores,  etc.,  $1,547,495;  leaving 
a  balance  of  $976,000  on  January  i,  1898,  for  building  new  lines,  etc.  For  the 
debt  due  to  Cape  Colony  on  the  transfer  of  the  railways,  debentures  were 
passed  for  $8,461,065.  Length  of  railway  lines,  366  miles.  Capital  cost  of  rail- 
ways, $12,500,000.  There  are  roads  throughout  the  districts,  ox-wagons  being 
the  principal  means  of  conveyance. 

In  the  Orange  Free  State  there  are  1,429  miles  of  telegraph  line  with  1,683 
miles  of  wire,  besides  333  miles  of  railway  telegraph  with  999  miles  of  wire. 
Bloemfontein  is  in  telegjraphic  communication  with  Cape  Colony,  Natal,  South 
African  Republic,  and  Basutoland. 

The  money,  weights,  and  measures  are  English.  The  land  measure  the 
Morgen,  is  equal  to  about  2.  i  acres. 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

405  Hilgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


^00  285  128 


